UC-NRLF 


^B    3D2    3bM 


nmu  of  m  eJteatt  itiitr  <flfoo» 

EDITED  BY  GRACE  A.  OLIVER 


STORY   OF 

THEODORE     PARKER 


Copyright,  1883, 
By  Cupples,  Upham  &  Co. 


PR>88  OF 

8TANI.KV  ANI>  IIBITKR, 

ItoHTON. 


STORY  OF 


THEODORE   PARKER 


FRANCES  E.  COOKE 


WITH  AN  INTRODUCTION  BY 
GRACE    A.   OLIVER 


BOSTON 

CUPPLES,  UPHAM  &  COMPANY 

<BXii  Corner  Bookstore 

1883 


DA  7  6  fo  7 

FbCq 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 

Introduction iii 

The  Old  Home 7 

The  i-armer's  Boy 19 

Unknown  Workers 31 

Barnstable  and  West  Roxbury        .        .        .        .44 

Seekers  of  the  Truth 56 

A  Brave  Heretic 66 

Scattering  Broadcast 75 

Fighting  for  Freedom 89 

"A  Hero  in  the  Strife" 100 

The  Last  Voyage 112 


f)  25  7  09 


INTRODUCTION 


This  little  story  of  Theodore  Parker,  by  an  English- 
woman, should  find  a  place  in  our  literature  and  have  an 
enduring  name. 

She  has  skilfully  woven  a  vivid,  picturesque,  and  in- 
spiring narrative  of  the  events  of  Mr.  Parker's  life,  with- 
out overstepping  the  bounds  of  natural  and  simple  de- 
scription. There  is  in  it  enough  of  imagination,  of 
truth,  of  character-drawing,  of  incident,  to  put  the  salient 
points  in  the  life  and  work  of  Mr.  Parker  clearly  before 
the  minds  of  all  who  desire  a  portrait  of  one  who  is 
called  justly  by  our  worthy  critic  and  friend,  James 
Freeman  Clarke,  "  the  ripe  fruit  of  New  England,"  who 
united  "  traits  of  common  sense,  joined  with  abstract 
speculation ;  sensibility  of  conscience,  poised  with  calm 
judgment ;  the  fanatic's  devotion  to  ideas,  with  the  cal- 
culating prudence  of  a  man  of  the  world,  —  which  make 
the  basis  of  New  England  character  and  its  essential 
strength.  .  .  . 

"  In  looking  for  some  illustration  ot  this  strangely 
exuberant  and  varied  genius,  I  have  recalled,  as  its 
best  emblem,  a  day  I  once  passed  in  crossing  the  St. 
Gothard  Mountain,  from  Italy  into  Germany.  In  the 
morning,  we  were  among  Italian  nightingales  and  the 
sweet  melody  of  the  Italian  speech.  The  flowers  were 
all  in  bloom,  and  the  air  balmy  with  summer  perfumes 


iv  '         INTRODUCTION. 

from  vine  and  myrtle.  But,  as  we  slowly  climbed  the 
mountain,  we  passed  away  from  this, —  first  into  vast 
forests  of  pine,  and  then  out  upon  broad  fields  of  snow, 
where  winter  avalanches  were  falling  in  thunder  from 
above.  And  so,  at  noon,  we  reached  the  summit,  and 
began  to  descend,  till  we  again  left  the  snow ;  and  so 
rode  continually  downward  on  a  smooth  highway,  but 
through  terrible  ravines,  over  rushing  torrents,  into  dark 
gorges,  where  the  precipices  almost  met  overhead,  and 
the  tormented  river  roared  far  below  :  and  so  on  and  on, 
hour  after  hour,  till  we  came  down  into  the  green  and 
sunny  valleys  of  Canton  Uri,  and  passed  through  meadows 
where  men  were  mowing  the  hay,  and  the  air  was  fra- 
grant, not  now  with  Southern  vines,  but  with  the  Northern 
apple-blossoms.  Here  we  heard  all  around  us  the  lan- 
guage of  Germany ;  and  then  we  floated  on  the  enchant- 
ing lake  of  the  Four  Cantons,  and  passed  through  its 
magnificent  scenery,  till  we  reached  at  dark,  the  old  city 
of  Lucerne.  This  wonderful  day,  in  its  variety,  is  a  type 
to  me  of  the  career  of  our  brother.  His  youth  was  full 
of  ardor  and  hope,  full  of  imagination  and  poetic  dreams, 
full  of  studies  in  ancient  and  romantic  lore.  It  was 
Italian  and  classic.  Then  came  the  struggling  ascent  of 
the  mountain,  —  the  patient  toil  and  study  of  his  early 
manhood ;  then  the  calm  survey  of  the  great  fields  of 
thought  and  knowledge,  spreading  widely  around  in  their 
majestic  repose,  and  of  the  holy  heavens  above  his  head, 
—  the  sublimities  of  religion,  the  pure  mountain  air  of 
devout  thought  and  philosophic  insight ;  and  then  came 
the  rapid  progress,  on  and  on,  from  this  high  summit  of 
lonely  speculation,  down  into  the  practice  and  use  of 
life,  —  down  among  the  philanthropies  and  humanities  of 


INTRODUCTION.  v 

being, — down  from  the  solitary,  serene  air  of  lonely 
thought,  through  terrible  ravines  and  broken  precipices 
of  struggling  reform  ;  by  the  roaring  stream  of  progress, 
where  the  frozen  avalanche  of  conservative  opposition 
falls  in  thunder  to  crush  the  advancing  traveler ;  and  so, 
on  and  on,  into  the  human  homes  of  many-speaking  men, 
among  low  cottages,  along  the  road  the  human  being 
travels,  and  by  which  blessing  comes  and  goes,  —  the 
road  which  follows  — 

'The  river's  course,  the  valley's  peaceful  windings, 
Curves  round  the  cornfield  and  the  hill  of  vines  ; 
And  so,  secure,  though  late,  reaches  its  end.' 

Out  of  classic,  Roman-Catholic,  mediaeval  Italy,  into 
Protestant  Germany ;  out  of  the  land  of  organization 
and  authority  into  the  land  of  individual  freedom ;  out 
of  the  historic  South,  inheriting  all  treasures  of  the  past, 
into  the  enthusiastic,  progressive  North,  inspired  with  all 
the  expectations  of  the  future, — such  was  the  course  and 
progress  of  his  earthly  day.  A  long  life,  though  closed 
at  fifty  years ;  as  that  day  on  the  St.  Gothard  seemed  to 
us  already  three  days,  long  before  sundown." 

The  reformers  of  one  age  become  the  bulwarks  of 
strength,  the  inspirers  of  truth,  for  the  next,  and  it  is 
only  just  and  right  that  the  generation  now  growing  up 
among  us  should  have  the  opportunity  offered  it  of 
studying  all  phases  of  character  in  the  great  men  who 
have  worked  for  the  progress  of  humanity.  As  this  last 
biography  of  Theodore  Parker  says,  "  the  memory  of 
one  whose  reverence  was  so  deep  for  the  essential  basis 
of  religion  should  never  die  away ;  and  no  npbler  ex- 
ample can  be  found  in  modern  times  of  faithfulness  to 
conscience." 


vi  INTliODUCTION. 

This  is  a  thoughtful  and  intelligent  community,  yet 
it  is  doubtful  if  this  little  sketch  of  one  of  America's 
great  writers,  preachers,  and  speakers  will  not  give  the 
reader  something  quite  fresh  in  style,  afford  food  for 
thought,  for  emulation,  and  uplift  the  hearts  of  many  of 
the  younger  people  who  know  the  name  of  Theodore 
l^arker  only  as  a  faint  memory.  It  is  now  twenty  years 
since  the  life  of  him  by  John  Weiss  appeared,  —  a  mas- 
sive, exhaustive,  scholarly,  and  eloquent  book,  full,  too 
Rill, alas!  for  the  general  reader  who  had  neither  time 
nor  money  to  spend  on  so  large  a  study. 

Mr.  Weiss  wrote  this  **Life  "  with  the  assistance  of 
many  private  "  Journals,"  little  note-books,  and  data 
furnished  him  by  friends  and  relatives  whose  vivid 
recollections  of  Mr.  Parker  greatly  helped  the  personal 
touches  of  the  portrait.  Mrs.  Parker  too  lent  all  her 
aid.  Mr.  Weiss  says  that  the  memory  '*  is  indebted 
greatly  to  that  devoted  heart,  that  delicate  disposition, 
and  that  good  sense,  which  has  been  left  to  recall  how 
loving  a  husband  was  this  champion  of  oppressed 
thoughts  and  people,  and  to  build,  with  most  careful 
and  assiduous  hands,  a  memorial  to  the  dear  one,  so 
illustrious  to  her  by  private  sweetness  as  by  public 
service.  It  is  from  her  that  I  have  derived  all  my 
authority  and  opportunity  to  undertake  this  work. 

"  Only  three  years  have  passed  since  another  ministry 
called  the  noble  and  variously  gifted  man,  whom  my 
pen,  at  a  long  interval  and  with  many  an  imperfect 
movement,  has  been  striving  to  recall,  hoping,  at  least, 
not  greatly  to  mar  the  character  which  is  now  perceived 
to  have  been  bone  of  the  bone  and  flesh  of  the  flesh 
of  America.     But   the   consideration   which   is   paid   to 


INTR  OD  UC  TION.  v  i  i 

him,  in  all  quarters  where  it  is  worthy  to  be  well 
remembered,  through  most  diverse  theological  and 
political  confessions,  is  a  tribute  which  hastens  very 
early  to  his  grave.  In  England  alone,  the  simultaneous 
publication  of  two  distinct  editions  of  his  Works, 
though  both  of  them  are  quite  unauthorized,  and  neither 
respects  the  duty  and  wishes  which  rule  in  his  late  home, 
sufficiently  attests  the  importance  of  his  writings  to  the 
popular  mind,  to  develop  therein  free  and  manly 
thought. 

''The  soil  of  no  grave  was  ever  more  fertile.  Men, 
who  expected  that  his  influence  would  become  extinct, 
and  that  he  had  no  gifts  incisive  enough  to  Avrite  his 
name  upon  the  heart,  acknowledge  even  now  that  he 
was  a  representative  man,  with  conscience  and  human- 
ity enough  to  feed  a  generation,  to  warm  and  to  save, 
to  build  up  with  healthy  tissue,  to  repair  the  degenerate 
waste  of  a  noble  people,  and  to  pull  down  and  trample 
on  their  crimes  alone.  He  has  been  missed  during 
these  three  years.  The  best  men  have  asked  for  him, 
because  they  wanted  New  England  granite  to  build 
with  a  breakwater,  to  have  firm  words  to  put  in  slippery 
places,  that  the  country  might  be  helped  across  into 
purpose  and  a  definite  policy  of  freedom.  Men  have 
said,  at  home  and  abroad,  in  various  tongues,  He  grows 
upon  us :  he  was  healthy  as  immortality,  he  was  as 
unconventional  as  a  period  of  revolution  always  must 
be  —  a  strong  soil  full  of  seeds  :  the  more  you  till  it,  the 
better  it  nods  with  wheat,  and  corn,  and  all  the  substan- 
tial elements  of  human  food.  Foreign  thinkers  are 
very  quick  to  perceive  the  drift  of  his  mind,  and  very 
enthusiastic   to   recognize   his   capacity  for   entertaining. 


viii  INTRODUCTION. 

righteousness.  They  see  from  afar,  what  we  are  now 
beginning  to  see  close  at  hand,  that  he  was  a  pioneer 
of  this  America  which  has  been  sending  her  dreadful 
columns  over  roads  of  his  surveying  and  which  he  helped 
to  clear. 

**  It  would  be  surprising  to  see  how  readily  everything 
which  is  now  happening  connects  itself  with  his  sincerit) 
and  indignation,  if  we  did  not  know  that  God's  hand 
holds  nothing  but  things  that  are  sincere,  and  that  His 
earth  must  grow  the  things  that  are  planted.  It  is  the 
test  of  the  symmetry  of  a  great  mind ;  its  anticipations 
Providence  seems  to  have  overheard,  so  readily  do  its 
tlioughts,  its  just  wrath,  its  salutary  hatred,  its  heavenly 
hopes,  become  converted  into  histoVy. 

"  His  Life  appears  at  the  very  moment  when  the  great 
struggle  which  he  anticipated  is  going  against  the  wicked- 
ness which  he  smote  so  valiantly.  The  sound  of  victo- 
rious cannon  is  a  salvo  of  recognition  over  his  distant 
grave  —  a  thundering  welcome  paid,  so  soon  after  those 
mutterings  of  hatred  and  contempt,  to  the  great  sense  of 
liberty  which  he  represented.  The  Lexington  blood  is 
cold ;  flowers  cover  that  simple  and  manly  presence,  and 
divert  our  thoughts  from  its  decay ;  he  is  absent  ui)on 
some  ministry  that  requires  a  brave  and  unselfish  heart. 
But  look  through  the  hearts  of  the  common  people 
who  supply  this  redness  and  are  blushing  so  frankly  at 
Gettysburg  and  Charleston,  —  what  American  ever  had  so 
good  a  right  as  he  to  say,  as  for  himself,  *  There  is  a  day 
after  to-day  '  ?  " 

The  clouds  which  still  obscured  the  air,  murky  yet 
from  the  great  battle-fields  of  the  civil  war,  where  the 
great  truths  taught  and  prayed  for  by  Theodore  Parker 


INTRODUCTION.  ix 

were  being  bravely  battled  for,  were  too  heavy  for  the 
clear  study  of  his  life.  The  very  destinies  of  a  great 
nation  hung  in  the  balance,  and  every  day  brought  to 
an  anxious  people  new  considerations  for  already  over- 
tasked hearts  and  minds.  The  personal  influence  of  Mr. 
Parker  was  still  too  vivid,  to  those  who  loved  him  no 
words  were  adequate ;  and  to  his  opponents,  for  he  had 
many  and  bitter  ones,  the  brave  words  he  spoke  in  behalf 
of  the  oppressed  and  down-trodden  in  all  places,  were 
only  a  renewal  of  the  strife  which  had  grown  more  and 
more  cruel.  The  manner  in  which  he  had  been  pursued 
by  his  opponents  made  him  bitter  and  severe  in  his 
denunciations  of  wrong  and  wrong-doers.  Mr.  Clarke 
says :  — 

"  His  end  was  to  revolutionize  public  opinion  ;  to  beat 
down,  by  terrible  blows  of  logic  and  satire,  the  cool 
defenders  of  inhuman  wrong  to  pour  floods  of  fiery 
invective  upon  those  who  opposed  themselves  to  the 
progress  of  a  great  cause ;  to  fill  all  minds  with  a  sense 
of  responsibility  to  God  for  the  use  of  their  faculties ; 
to  show  the  needs  of  suffering  man ;  to  call  attention  to 
the  degraded  classes ;  to  raise  up  those  who  are  bowed 
down,  and  to  break  every  yoke.  He  also  came  in  the 
spirit  and  power  of  Elijah.  He  was  ready  to  denounce 
the  Arabs  and  Herods  of  our  day,  the  hard-money  kings 
of  a  commercial  city,  the  false  pohticians  whose  lying 
tongue  is  always  waiting  to  deceive  the  simple.  His 
fiery  indignation  at  wrong  showed  itself,  in  the  most 
terrible  invectives  which  modern  literature  knows,  against 
the  kidnappers,  the  pro-slavery  politicians,  the  pro-slavery 
priests,  and  the  slave-catching  commissioners.  These 
invectives  were    sometimes   cruel    and   severe ;    in  the 


X  INTRODUCTION. 

spirit  of  Moses,  David,  and  John  the  Baptist,  rather  than 
in  that  of  Christ.  Such  extreme  severity,  whether  in 
Jew  or  Christian,  defeats  its  own  object ;  for  it  is  felt  to 
be  excessive  and  unjust.  I  cannot  approve  of  Theodore 
Parker's  severity.  I  consider  it  false,  because  extrava- 
gant ;  unjust,  because  indiscriminate ;  unchristian,  be- 
cause relentless  and  unsympathizing.  But  then  I  will 
remember  how  bitterly  he  was  pursued  by  his  oppo- 
nents ;  how  Christians  offered  prayers  in  their  meetings 
that  he  might  be  taken  away ;  how  the  leaders  of  opmion 
in  Boston  hated  and  reviled  him  ;  how  little  he  had,  from 
any  quarter,  of  common  sympathy  or  common  charity. 
I  cannot  wonder  at  his  severity ;  but  I  cannot  think  it 
wise.  Being  so  great,  I  wish  he  had  been  greater.  Being 
so  loving  to  his  friends,  I  wish  he  could  also  have  felt  less 
bitter  scorn  towards  his  opponents." 

This  state  of  partisan  feeling  was  too  violent  against 
Mr.  Parker,  and  the  personal  affection  borne  him  by 
thousands  was  too  deep  for  any  writer  to  bear  impartial 
evidence  as  to  his  peculiar  powers,  his  influence,  and  his 
great  work. 

Ten  years  passed  and  then  appeared  the  excellent  Life, 
by  Mr.  Frothingham,  full  of  personal  reminiscences,  ex- 
tracts from  private  letters,  and  enough  of  detail  to  enrich 
without  encumbering  the  narrative.  There  is  no  shadow 
of  an  open  grave  to  depress  the  seeker  after  the  inward 
life  of  Parker,  there  are  no  long  extracts  to  detract  from 
the  simplicity  of  the  portrait  which  is  here  given  in  Mr. 
Frothingham's  admirable  style.  He  says,  as  one  reason 
for  his  memoir  :  "  There  was  more  in  him  than  any  one 
mind,  even  (he  most  candid  and  sympathetic, could  see; 
antl  there  was  much  in  him  that  few,  if  any,  were  ever 


INTRODUCTION.  xi 

permitted  to  see ;  the  private  journal,  to  which  he  con- 
fided his  most  secret  thoughts,  containing  many  things  of 
deep  significance  as  illustrations  of  his  interior  life,  which 
could  with  the  least  propriety  be  published,  even  when 
their  meaning  is  clear,  and  which  often  need  interpreta- 
tion. None  of  them  exhibit  qualities  inconsistent  with  a 
very  noble  character ;  but  some  of  them  point  to  secret 
recesses  of  feeling  which  cannot  be  uncovered."  Mr. 
Frothingham,  in  summing  up  the  work  of  Mr.  Parker, 
says :  — 

"  Utter  fidelity  to  his  calling  made  Theodore  Parker 
the  great  preacher  that  he  was  :  probably,  all  things  con- 
sidered, the  greatest  of  his  generation.  He  was  greater 
than  Spurgeon,  whom  five  or  six  thousand  men  flock  to 
hear;  but  who  lacks  learning,  knowledge  of  men  and 
things,  breadth  and  poetic  fervor  of  mind,  culture  of  intel- 
lect, and  delicacy  of  perception  —  an  earnest,  zealous, 
toilsome  man,  powerful  through  his  sectarian  narrowness, 
not,  as  Parker  was,  through  his  human  sympathy.  He 
was  greater  beyond  measure  than  Maurice,  Robertson, 
Stopford  Brooke,  or  any  of  the  new  Churchmen ;  the 
delight  of  those  who  want  to  be  out  of  the  Church,  and 
yet  feel  in  it.  He  was  greater  than  Channing  in  range  of 
thought,  in  learning,  in  breadth  of  human  sympathy,  in 
vitality  of  interest  in  common  affairs,  in  wealth  of  imagi- 
nation, and  in  the  racy  flavor  of  his  spoken  or  written 
speech.  Channing  had  an  equal  moral  earnestness,  an 
equal  depth  of  spiritual  sentiment,  a  superior  gift  of  look, 
voice,  expression,  manner,  perhaps  a  more  finely  endowed 
speculative  apprehension,  a  subtler  insight ;  but  as  a 
preacher  he  addressed  a  smaller  class  of  his  fellow-men. 
His  was  an   aristocratic,  Parker's   a   democratic,  mind. 


xii  INTRODUCTION. 

Channing  was  ethereal  even  when  treading  most  manfully 
the  earth,  and  seraphic  even  when  urging  the  claims  of 
negroes  :  Parker,  when  soaring  highest,  kept  both  feet 
planted  on  the  soil,  and,  when  unfolding  the  most  ideal 
principles,  remembered  that  his  brother  held  him  by  the 
hand  for  guidance.  Channing  always  talked  prose  even 
while  dilating  on  transcendental  themes  :  Parker,  even 
when  discussing  affairs  of  the  street,  would  break  out 
into  the  language  of  poetry.  Channing  could  sympathize 
with  great  popular  ideas  and  movements,  but  was  too  fas- 
tidious to  be  ever  in  close  contact  with  the  people : 
Parker  was  a  man  of  the  people  through  and  through  ; 
one  of  the  people,  as  much  at  home  with  the  plainest  as 
the  most  cultured,  more  heartily  at  home  with  the  simple 
than  with  the  polished ;  hence  his  word  ran  swiftly  in 
rough  paths,  while  Dr.  Channing's  trod  daintily  m  high 
places." 

Mr.  Frothingham  next  shows  in  how  many  features 
Parker  was  the  superior  of  Henry  Ward  Beecher,  who 
has  generally  been  thought  of  as  the  greatest  preacher  of 
America,  and  then  proceeds  to  say  of  Parker's  printed 
sermons  :  "  Take  up  any  of  his  volumes  containing  the 
sermons  he  thought  worthy  of  permanent  preservation  — 
the  volume  of  Ten  Sermons  on  Religion;  the  Theism, 
Atheism,  and  Popular  Theology,  which  is  made  up  of 
pulpit  addresses  ;  read  the  pamphlet  sermons  on  Im- 
mortal Life  ;  on  The  Perils  of  Adversity  and  Prosperity  ; 
What  Religion  will  do  for  a  Man  ;  Lesson  for  a  Mid- 
summer Day  ;  The  Function  and  Place  of  Conscience  ; 
The  Sermon  of  Poverty,  Of  War,  Of  Merchants ;  The 
Chief  Sins  of  the  People ;  The  Power  of  a  False  Idea  ; 
and  you  have  many  a  long  hour  full  of  edification,  in- 


INTRODUCTION.  xiii 

struction,  and  delight.  They  are  sermons  —  always  ser- 
mons; not  essays  or  disquisitions.  The  pareneticai 
character  runs  through  everything  the  man  wrote,  as 
the  moral  element  ran  through  the  man.  As  sermons 
intended  to  reach  the  conscience  as  well  as  the  under- 
standing of  miscellaneous  and  heedless  auditors,  who 
must  have  a  thought  expressed  in  several  forms,  and 
reiterated  more  than  once,  in  order  to  catch  or  retain  it, 
they  are  almost  perfect,  and  are  destined  to  do  a  most 
important  work  in  educating  and  inspiring  thousands 
whom  the  preacher's  voice  never  reached,  who  perhaps 
were  not  born  when  he  fell  asleep.  More  may  be  learned 
from  his  political  speeches  and  addresses  than  from  many 
volumes  of  contemporaneous  history.  His  speculative 
discourses  throw  light  on  abstruse  problems  of  philoso- 
phy ;  his  ordinary  sermons  are  rich  in  practical  wisdom 
for  daily  life,  and  will  be  read  when  hundreds  of  sermons 
now  popular  are  forgotten,  and  even  when  the  literature 
of  the  pulpit  has  fallen  into  that  neglect  it,  for  the  most 
part,  deserves." 

Parker  wrote  nearly  a  thousand  sermons  —  an  average 
of  about  forty-five  per  year  —  during  the  course  of  his 
twenty- two  years'  ministry. 

Wonderful  tributes  have  been  given  to  the  strong 
humanitarian  influence  of  Parker.     Weiss  says  :  — 

"  He  had  a  native  love  for  man.  It  was  not  an  abstract 
recognition  of  new  phases  of  Equality  and  Fraternity. 
His  nature  was  not  of  the  cool  and  serene  kind  which 
prefers  truths  to  people,  and  would  never  invite  the  latter 
except  under  compulsion.  Every  scholarly  attainment 
only  seemed  to  widen  the  channels  for  his  human  im- 
pulse ;  it  mantled  in  every  gift,  it  beat  to  shatter  all  doc- 


xiv  INTRODUCTION. 

txines  which  degraded  or  depreciated  man.  He  had  all 
Dr.  Channing's  reverence  for  human  nature,  with  a 
prompt,  practical  friendliness,  gentle  to  visit  the  humble, 
terrible  to  defend  them.  Whenever  he  found  a  truth,  he 
placed  it  in  the  glittering  row  which  sits  upon  the  rugged 
forehead  of  humankind ;  there  it  looked  handsomer  to 
him  than  in  aesthetic  and  transcendental  cabinets.  For 
all  things  look  best  where  they  belong." 

Miss  Frances  Power  Cobbe,  known  for  her  many  excel- 
lent writings  on  advanced  thought,  and  her  strong  desire 
to  make  herself  useful  in  her  day  and  generation,  was  for 
years  a  literary  friend  and  correspondent  of  Theodore 
Parker.  She  felt  she  owed  to  him  the  religious  influence 
which  saved  her  from  spiritual  wreck.  This  noble  woman, 
called  by  Mary  Somerville  the  "best  and  cleverest 
woman  I  ever  met,"  gave  to  the  English  public  an  edition 
of  Parker's  writings.  She  called  him  "  the  prophet  of  the 
absolute  goodness  of  God."  Simultaneously  another  edi- 
tion appeared  in  London,  making  the  works  of  Parker 
well  known  there,  and  his  influence  widely  felt.  To  the 
author  of  the  first  English  life  of  Parker,  Mr.  Dean, 
who  dedicated  his  volume  to  Miss  Cobbe,  she  wrote  :  — 

"■  I  am  heartily  glad  you  are  undertaking  the  good  work 
of  making  Parker  better  known  as  a  living  man  as  well  as 
a  writer.  As  the  years  pass  on,  and  we  travel  with  them 
into  other  regions  of  thought  than  those  we  once  crossed 
with  him,  my  sense  of  the  loss  we  have  sustained  by  his 
early  death,  grows  greater  rather  than  less.  I  never  figlit 
a  battle  for  what  I  deem  to  be  truth  or  right  but  I  think 
how  his  voice  would  have  rung  out  to  cheer  and  guide 
us,  and  his  sympathy  have  followed  every  fortune  of  the 
war." 


INTRODUCTION.  xv 

In  her  introduction  to  the  pubhshed  works,  she 
wrote  :  — 

"  Theodore  Parker's  faith  at  least  bore  this  result :  It 
brought  out  in  him  one  of  the  noblest  and  most  complete 
developments  of  our  nature  which  the  world  has  seen ;  a 
splendid  devotion,  even  to  death,  for  the  hohest  cause, 
and  none  the  less  a  most  perfect  fulfilment  of  the  minor 
duties  and  obligations  of  humanity.  Though  the  last 
man  in  the  world  to  claim  faultlessness  for  himself,  he  was 
yet  to  all  mortal  eyes  absolutely  faithful  to  the  resolution 
of  his  boyhood  to  devote  himself  to  God's  immediate 
service.  Living  in  a  land  of  special  personal  inquisition, 
and  the  mark  for  thousands  of  inimical  scrutinies,  he  yet 
lived  out  his  allotted  time,  beyond  the  arrows  of  calumny  ; 
and  those  that  knew  him  best  said  that  the  words  they 
heard  over  his  grave  seemed  intended  for  him  :  ^  Blessed 
are  the  pure  in  heart,  for  they  shall  see  God '  !  The 
lilies,  which  were  his  favorite  flowers,  and  which  loving 
hands  laid  on  his  coffin,  were  not  misplaced  thereon. 
Truly,  if  men  cannot  gather  grapes  off  thorns,  nor  figs  off 
thistles,  then  must  the  root  of  the  most  faithful  life  have 
been  a  sound  one. 

"He  was  a  great  and  good  man  :  the  greatest  and  best, 
perhaps,  which  America  has  produced.  He  was  great  in 
many  ways.  In  time  to  come  his  country  will  glory  in 
his  name,  and  the  world  will  acknowledge  all  his  gifts  and 
powers.  His  true  greatness,  however,  will  in  future  ages 
rest  on  this :  that  God  revealed  Himself  to  his  faithful 
soul  in  His  most  adorable  aspect  —  that  he  preached  with 
undying  faith,  and  lived  out  in  his  consecrated  life  the 
lesson  he  had  thus  been  taught  —  that  he  was  worthy  to 
be  the  Prophet  of  the  greatest  of  all  truths,  the  Absolute 
Goodness  of  God,  the  centre  truth  of  the  universe." 


XI  INTR  OD  UC  TION. 

This  prophet  was  not  without  honor  at  home  as  well  as 
abroad,  when  at  the  time  of  his  death  Emerson  spoke 
such  words  as  these  to  the  sorrowing  multitude  gathered 
at  the  Commemoration  service  in  the  great  Music  Hall  in 
Boston,  in  June,  i860  :  — 

"  He  never  kept  back  the  truth  for  fear  to  make  an 
enemy.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  it  was  complained  that 
he  was  bitter  and  harsh  ;  that  his  zeal  burned  with  too  hot 
a  flame.  It  is  so  difficult,  in  evil  times,  to  escape  this 
charge! — for  the  faithful  preacher  most  of  all.  It  was 
his  merit  —  like  Luther,  Knox,  Latimer,  and  John  the 
Baptist — to  speak  tart  truth  when  that  was  peremptory,  and 
when  there  were  few  to  say  it.  But  his  sympathy  with 
goodness  was  not  less  energetic.  One  fault  he  had  :  he 
overestimated  his  friends,  I  may  well  say  it,  and  some- 
times vexed  them  with  the  importunity  of  his  good 
opinion,  whilst  they  knew  better  the  ebb  which  follows  ex- 
aggerated praise.  He  was  capable,  it  must  be  said,  of  the 
most  unmeasured  eulogies  on  those  he  esteemed,  espe- 
cially if  he  had  any  jealousy  that  they  did  not  stand  with 
the  Boston  public  as  high  as  they  ought.  His  command- 
ing merit  as  reformer  is  this,  that  he  insisted,  beyond  all 
men  in  pulpits, —  I  cannot  think  of  one  rival, —  that  the 
essence  of  Christianity  is  its  practical  morals  :  it  is  there 
for  use,  or  it  is  nothing ;  and  if  you  combine  it  with  sharp 
trading,  or  with  ordinary  city  ambitions  to  gloss  over 
municipal  corruptions,  or  private  intemperance,  or  suc- 
cessful frauds,  or  immoral  politics,  or  unjust  wars,  or  the 
cheating  of  Indians,  or  the  robbery  of  frontier  nations,  or 
leaving  your  principles  at  home,  to  show  on  the  high 
seas,  or  in  Europe,  a  supple  complaisance  to  tyrants,  it  is 
an  hypocrisy,  and  the  truth  is  not  in  you  ;  and  no  love  of 


INTRODUCTION.  xvii 

religious  music,  or  of  dreams  of  Swedenborg,  or  praise  of 
John  Wesley,  or  of  Jeremy  Taylor,  can  save  you  from  the 
Satan  which  you  are. 

*'  His  ministry  fell  on  a  political  crisis  also  :  on  the 
years  when  Southern  slavery  broke  over  its  old  banks, 
made  new  and  vast  pretensions,  and  wrung  from  the 
weakness  or  treachery  of  Northern  people,  fatal  conces- 
sions in  the  Fugitive  Slave  Bill,  and  the  repeal  of  the 
Missouri  Compromise.  Two  days,  bitter  in  the  mem- 
ory of  Boston, —  the  days  of  the  rendition  of  Sims  and 
of  Burns, —  made  the  occasion  of  his  most  remarkable 
discourses.  He  kept  nothing  back.  In  terrible  earnest 
he  denounced  the  public  crime,  and  meted  out  to  every 
official,  high  or  low,  his  due  portion.  By  the  incessant 
power  of  his  statement,  he  made  and  held  a  party.  It 
was  his  great  service  to  freedom.  He  took  away  the  re- 
proach of  silent  consent,  that  would  otherwise  have  laid 
against  the  indignant  minority,  by  uttering,  in  the  hour 
and  place  wherein  these  outrages  were  done,  the  stern 
protest.  There  were,  of  course,  multitudes  to  defame 
and  censure  the  truth-speaker.  But  the  brave  know  the 
brave.  Fops,  whether  in  drawing-rooms  or  churches,  will 
utter  the  fop's  opinion,  and  faintly  hope  for  the  salvation 
of  his  soul ;  but  his  manly  enemies,  who  despise  the  fops, 
honored  him ;  and  it  is  well  known  that  his  great  hospita- 
ble heart  was  the  sanctuary  to  which  every  soul  conscious 
of  an  earnest  opinion  came  for  sympathy  —  ahke  the 
brave  slave-holder  and  the  brave  slave-rescuer.  These 
met  in  the  house  of  this  honest  man ;  for  every  sound 
heart  loves  a  responsible  person  —  one  who  does  not  in 
generous  company  say  generous  things,  and  in  mean 
company  base  things ;  but  says  one  thing,  now  cheerfully, 


xviii  INTRO  D  UC  TION. 

now  indignantly,  but  always  because  he  must,  and  because 
he  sees  that  whether  he  speaks  or  refrains  from  speech, 
this  is  said  over  him,  and  in  histoiy,  nature,  and  all  souls 
testify  to  the  same. 

"  Ah,  my  brave  brother  !  it  seems  as  if,  in  a  frivolous 
age,  our  loss  were  immense,  and  your  place  can  not  be 
supplied.  But  you  will  already  be  consoled  in  the  trans- 
fer of  your  genius,  knowing  well  that  the  nature  of  the 
world  will  affirm  to  all  men,  in  all  times,  that  which  for 
twenty-five  years  you  valiantly  spoke  j  that  the  winds  of 
Italy  murmur  the  same  truth  over  your  grave,  the  winds 
of  America  over  these  bereaved  streets;  that  the  sea 
which  bore  your  mourners  home  affirms  it,  the  stars  in 
their  courses,  and  the  inspirations  of  youth ;  whilst  the 
polished  and  pleasant  traitors  to  human  rights,  with  per- 
verted learning  and  disgraced  graces,  rot  and  are  forgot- 
ten with  their  double  tongue,  saying  all  that  is  sordid  for 
the  corruption  of  a  man." 

In  Wendell  Phillips'  address  at  the  sessions  of  the  New 
England  Anti-Slavery  Society,  May,  i860,  he  said  :  — 

"  When  some  Americans  die,  when  most  Americans 
die,  their  friends  tire  the  public  with  excuses.  They  con- 
fess this  spot  \  they  explain  that  stain ;  they  plead  cir- 
cumstances as  the  half  justification  of  the  mistake ;  and 
they  beg  of  us  to  remember  that  nothing  but  good  is  to 
be  spoken  of  the  dead.  We  need  no  such  mantle  for  the 
green  grave  under  the  sky  of  Florence ;  no  excuses,  no 
explanations,  no  spot !  Priestly  malice  has  scanned 
every  inch  of  his  garment ;  it  was  seamless  ;  it  could  find 
no  stain.  History,  as  in  the  case  of  every  other  of  her 
beloved  children,  gathers  into  her  bosom  the  arrows 
which  malice  had  shot  at  him,  and  says  to  posterity,  *  Be- 


INTRODUCTION.  xix 

hold  the  title  deeds  of  your  gratitude  !  '  We  ask  no  mo- 
ment to  excuse  :  there  is  nothing  to  explain.  What  the 
snarling  journal  thought  bold,  what  the  selfish  politician 
feared  as  his  ruin,  it  was  God's  seal  set  upon  his  apostle- 
,  ship.  "  The  little  Hbel  glanced  across  him  like  a  rocket 
when  it  goes  over  the  vault :  it  is  passed,  and  the  royal 
sun  shines  out  as  beneficent  as  ever. 

"When  I  returned  from  New  York,  on  the  13th  of  this 
month,  I  was  to  have  been  honored  by  standing  in  his 
desk,  but  illness  prevented  my  fulfilling  that  appointment. 
It  was  eleven  o'clock  in  the  morning.  As  he  sank  away 
the  same  week  under  the  fair  sky  of  Italy,  he  said  to  the 
most  loving  of  wives  and  of  nurses,  '  J^et  me  be  buried 
where  I  fall ' ;  and  tenderly,  thoughtfully,  she  selected 
four  o'clock  of  the  same  Sunday  to  mingle  his  dust  with 
the  kindred  dust  of  brave,  classic  Italy. 

"  Four  o'clock  !  The  same  sun  that  looked  upon  the 
half  dozen  mourners  that  he  permitted  to  follow  him  to 
the  grave,  the  same  moment  of  brightness  lighted  up  the 
arches  of  his  own  temple  as  one  whom  he  loved  stepped 
into  his  own  desk,  and  with  remarkable  coincidence,  for 
the  only  time  during  his  absence,  opened  one  of  his  own 
sermons  to  supply  my  place ;  and,  as  his  friend  read 
the  Beatitudes  over  his  grave  on  the  banks  of  the  Arno, 
his  dearer  friend  here  read  from  a  manuscript,  the  text : 
'  Have  faith  in  God.' 

"  It  is  said  that  in  his  last  hours,  in  the  wandering  of 
the  masterly  brain,  he  murmured,  *  There  are  two  Theo- 
dore Parkers  :  one  rests  here  dying  ;  but  the  other  lives, 
and  is  at  work  at  home.'  How  true  !  At  that  very 
moment  he  was  speaking  to  his  usual  thousands  ;  at  that 
very  instant  his  own  words  were  sinking  down  into  the 


XX  INTR  OD  UC  TION. 

hearts  of  those  that  loved  him  best,  and  bidding  them,  in 
this  the  lonehest  hours  of  their  bereavement,  '  have  faitii 
in  God.*  He  always  came  to  this  [the  x\nti- Slavery] 
platform  ;  he  is  an  old  occupant  of  it.  He  never  made 
an  apology  for  coming  to  it.  I  remember,  many  years 
ago,  going  home  from  the  very  hall  which  formerly  occu- 
pied this  place.  He  had  sat  where  you  sit,  in  the  seats, 
looking  up  at  us.  It  had  been  a  stormy,  hard  gathering, 
a  close  fight ;  the  press  caluminating  us  ;  every  journal  in 
Boston  ridiculing  the  idea  which  we  were  endeavoring  to 
spread.  As  I  passed  down  the  stairs  homeward,  he  put 
his  arm  within  mine,  and  said,  '  You  shall  never  need  to 
ask  me  again  to  share  that  platform.*  It  was  the  instinct 
of  his  nature,  true  as  the  bravest  heart.  The  spot  for 
him  was  where  the  battle  was  hottest.  He  had  come,  as 
half  the  clergy  came,  a  critic.  He  felt  it  was  not  his 
place ;  that  it  was  to  grapple  with  a  tiger,  and  throttle 
him.  And  the  pledge  that  he  made  he  kept ;  for  whether 
here  or  in  New  York,  as  his  reputation  grew,  when  that 
lordly  mammoth  of  the  press.  The  Tribune ^  overgrown  in 
its  independence  and  strength,  would  not  condescend  to 
record  a  word  that  Mr.  Garrison  or  I  could  utter,  but 
bent  low  before  the  most  thorough  scholarship  of  New 
England,  and  was  glad  to  win  its  way  to  the  confidence  of 
the  West  by  being  his  mouth-piece  —  with  that  weapon  of 
influence  m  his  right  hand,  he  always  placed  himself  at 
our  side,  and  in  the  midst  of  us,  in  the  capital  state  of 
the  empire. 

'*  You  may  not  think  this  great  praise  ;  we  do.  Other 
men  have  brought  us  brave  hearts ;  other  men  have 
brought  us  keen-sighted  and  vigilant  intellects ;  but  he 
brought  us,  as  no  one  else  could,  the  loftiest  stature  of 


INTR  OD  UC  TION.  xxi 

New  England  culture.  He  brought  us  a  disciplined  in- 
tellect, whose  statement  was  evidence,  and  whose  affirma- 
tion the  most  gifted  student  took  long  time  before  he 
ventured  to  doubt,  or  to  contradict.  When  we  had 
nothing  but  our  characters,  nothing  but  our  reputation 
for  accuracy,  for  our  weapons,  the  man  who  could  give 
to  the  cause  of  the  slave  that  weapon  was  indeed  one  of 
its  ablest  and  foremost  champions. 

"  Lord  Bacon  said  in  his  will,  '  I  leave  my  name  and 
memory  to  foreign  lands,  and  to  my  own  countrymen 
after  some  time  be  passed.'  No  more  fitting  words 
could  be  chosen,  if  the  modesty  of  the  friend  who  has 
just  gone  before  us  would  have  permitted  him  to  adopt 
them  for  himself.  To-day,  even  within  twenty-four  hours, 
I  have  seen  symptoms  of  that  repentance  which  John- 
son describes,  — 

'  When  nations,  slowly  wise  and  meanly  just, 
To  buried  merit  raise  the  tardy  bust.' 

"  The  men  who  held  their  garments  aside,  and  desired 
to  have  no  contact  with  Music  Hall,  are  beginning  to 
show  symptoms  that  they  will  be  glad,  when  the  world 
doubts  whether  they  have  any  life  left,  to  say,  '  Did  not 
Theodore  Parker  spring  from  our  bosom  ? '  Yes,  he 
takes  his  place,  his  serene  place,  among  those  few  to 
whom  Americans  point  as  a  proof  that  the  national  heart 
is  still  healthy  and  alive.  Most  of  our  statesmen,  most  of 
our  politicians,  go  down  into  their  graves,  and  we  cover 
them  up  with  apologies  :  we  walk  with  reverent  and  filial 
love  backward,  and  throw-the  mantle  over  their  defects, 
and  say,  'Remember  the  temptation  and  the  time!' 
Now  and  then  one,  now  and  then  one,  goes  up  silently, 


xxii  INTR  OD  UC  TION. 

and  yet  not  unannounced,  like  the  stars  at  their  coming, 
and  takes  his  place  :  while  all  eyes  follow  him,  and  say, 
*  Thank  God  that  it  is  the  promise  and  the  herald  ;  it  is 
the  nation  alive  at  its  heart.  God  has  not  left  us  without 
a  witness ;  for  His  children  have  been  among  us,  and 
one  half  have  known  them  by  love,  and  one  half  have 
known  them  by  hate  —  equal  attestations  to  the  divine 
life  that  has  passed  through  our  streets.'  " 

Again  he  spoke  burning  words  of  eloquent  eulogy, 
heart-felt  and  sincere,  at  the  commemoration  services, 
when  he  said  :  — 

"  There  is  one  thing  every  man  may  say  of  this  pulpit : 
it  was  a  live  reality,  and  no  sham.  Whether  tearing 
theological  idols  to  pieces  at  West  Roxbury,  or  here  bat- 
tling with  the  every-day  evils  of  the  streets,  it  was  ever 
a  live  voice,  and  no  mechanical  or  parrot  tune  ;  ever 
fresh  from  the  heart  of  God,  as  these  flowers,  these  lilies  — 
the  last  flower  over  which,  when  eye-sight  failed  him, 
with  his  old  gesture  he  passed  his  loving  hand,  and  said, 
*How  sweet!  '  x\s  in  that  story  he  loved  so  much  to 
tell  of  Michel  Angelo,  when  in  the  Roman  palace  Raphael 
was  drawing  his  figure  too  small,  Angelo  sketched  a  colos- 
sal head  of  fit  proportions,  and  taught  Raphael  his  fault : 
so  Parker  criticized  these  other  pulpits,  not  so  much  by 
censure  as  by  creation ;  by  a  pulpit  proportioned  to  the 
hour,  broad  as  humanity,  frank  as  truth,  stern  as  justice, 
and  loving  as  Christ.  Here  is  the  place  to  judge  him. 
In  St.  Paul's  Cathedral  the  epitaph  says,  if  you  would 
know  the  genius  of  Christopher  Wren,  '  look  around  ! ' 
Do  you  ask  proof,  how  full  were  the  hands,  how  large 
the  heart,  how  many-sided  the  brain,  of  your  teacher : 
listen,  and  you  will  hear  it  in  the  glad,  triumphant  cer- 


INTRODUCTION.  xxiii 

taintyofyour  enemies  —  that  you  must  close  these  doors, 
since  his  place  can  never  be  filled.  Do  you  ask  proof 
of  his  efficient  labor,  and  the  good  soil  into  which  that 
seed  fell  :  gladden  your  eyes  by  looking  back,  and 
seeing  for  how  many  months  the  impulse  his  vigorous 
hand  gave  you  has  sufficed,  spite  of  boding  prophecy,  to 
keep  these  doors  open  — yes,  he  has  left  those  accustomed 
to  use  weapons,  and  not  merely  to  hold  up  his  hands. 
x\nd  not  only  among  yourselves :  from  another  city  I 
received  a  letter,  full  of  deep  feeling :  and  the  writer,  an 
orthodox  church  member,  says  :  — 

" '  I  was  a  convert  to  Theodore  Parker  before  I  was  a 

convert  to .      If  there  is   anything  of  value  in  the 

work  I  am  doing  to-day,  it  may,  in  an  important  sense, 
be  said  to  have  had  its  root  in  Parker's  heresy ;  I  mean 
the  habit — without  which  orthodoxy  stands  emasculated, 
and  good  for  nothing — of  independently  passing  on  the 
empty  and  rotten  pretensions  of  churches  and  churchmen, 
which  I  learned  earliest,  and,  more  than  from  any  other, 
from  Theodore  Parker.  He  has  my  love,  my  respect, 
my  admiration.' 

"Yes,  his  diocese  is  broader  than  Massachusetts.  His 
influence  extends  very  far  outside  these  walls.  Every 
pulpit  in  Boston  is  freer  and  more  real  to-day  because  of 
the  existence  of  this.  The  fan  of  his  example  scattered 
the  chaff  of  a  hundred  sapless  years.  One  whole  city  is 
fresher  to-day  because  of  him.  The  most  sickly  and 
timid  soul  under  yonder  steeple,  hide-bound  in  days  and 
forms  and  beggarly  Jewish  elements,  little  dreams  how 
ten  times  narrower  and  worse  it  was  before  this  sun 
warmed  the  general  atmosphere  around.  As  was  said  of 
Burke's  unsuccessful  impeachment  of  Warren  Hastings, 


xxiv  INTRODUCTION. 

'never  was  the  great  object  of  punishment,  the  preven- 
tion of  crime,  more  completely  obtained.  Hastings  was 
acquitted;  but  tyranny  and  injustice  were  condemned 
wherever  English  was  spoken.*  So  we  may  say  of  Boston 
and  Theodore  Parker.  Grant  that  few  adopted  his  ex- 
treme theological  views,  that  not  many  sympathize  in  his 
politics  :  still,  that  Boston  is  nobler,  purer,  braver,  more 
loving,  more.  Christian,  to-day,  is  due  more  to  him  than 
to  all  the  pulpits  that  vex  her  Sabbath  air.  He  raised 
the  level  of  sermons,  intellectually  and  morally.  Other 
prjachers  were  compelled  to  grow  in  manly  thought,  and 
Christian  morals,  in  very  self-defence.  As  Christ  preached 
of  the  fall  of  the  Tower  of  Siloam  the  week  before,  and 
what  men  said  of  it  in  the  streets  of  Jerusalem  ;  so  Parker 
rang  through  our  startled  city  the  news  of  some  fresh 
crime  against  humanity  —  some  slave-hunt,  or  wicked 
court,  or  prostituted  official  —  till  frightened  audiences 
actually  took  bond  of  their  new  clergyman  that  they 
should  not  be  tormented  before  their  time. 

"Men  say  he  erred  on  that  great  question  of  our  age 
— the  place  due  to  the  Bible.  But  William  Craft,  one  of 
the  bravest  men  who  ever  fled  from  our  vulture  to  Victoria, 
writes  to  a  friend  :  *  When  the  slave-hunters  were  on  our 
tracks,  and  no  other  minister  except  yourself  came  to 
direct  our  attention  to  the  God  of  the  oppressed,  Parker 
came  with  his  wise  counsel,  and  told  us  where  and  how 
to  go ;  gave  us  money.  But  that  was  not  all :  he  gave 
me  a  weapon  to  protect  our  liberties,  and  a  Bible  to  guide 
our  souls.  I  have  that  Bible  now,  and  shall  ever  prize  it 
most  highly.' 

"  How  direct  and  frank  his  style  !  just  level  to  the 
nation's  ear.     No  man  ever  needed  to   read  any  of  his 


INTR  OB  UC  TION.  xxv 

sentences  twice  to  catch  its  meaning.  None  suspected 
that  he  thought  other  than  he  said,  or  more  than  he  con- 
fessed. 

*'  Like  all  such  men,  he  grew  daily ;  never  too  old  to 
learn.  Mark  how  close  to  actual  life,  how  much  bolder 
in  reform,  are  all  his  later  sermons,  especially  since  he 
came  to  the  city ;  every  year  his  step 

'  Forward,  persevering  to  the  last, 
From  well  to  better,  daily  self-surpassed.' 

"There  are  men  whom  we  measure  by  their  times, 
content  and  expecting  to  find  them  subdued  to  what  they 
work  in.  They  are  the  chameleons  of  circumstance ; 
they  are  seolian  harps,  toned  by  the  breeze  that  sweeps 
over  them.  There  are  others  who  serve  as  guide-posts 
and  landmarks  :  we  measure  their  times  by  them.  Such 
was  Theodore  Parker.  Hereafter  the  writer  will  use  him 
as  a  mete-wand  to  measure  the  heart  and  civilization  of 
Boston.  Like  the  Englishman,  a  year  or  two  ago,  who 
suspected  our  great  historian  could  not  move  in  the  best 
circles  of  the  city  when  it  dropped  out  that  he  did  not 
know  Theodore  Parker ;  distant  men  gauge  us  by  our 
toleration  and  recognition  of  him.  Such  men  are  our 
nilometers  :  the  harvest  of  the  future  is  according  to  the 
height  that  the  flood  of  our  love  rises  round  them.  Who 
cares  now  that  Harvard  vouchsafed  him  no  honors? 
But  history  will  save  the  fact  to  measure  the  calculating 
and  prudent  bigotry  of  our  times. 

"Some  speak  of  him  only  as  a  bitter  critic  and  harsh 
prophet.  Pulpits  and  journals  shelter  their  plain  speech 
in  mentioning  him  under  the  example  of  what  they  call 
his  'unsparing  candor.'     Do  they  feel  that  the  strangeness 


xxvi  INTR  OD  UC  TION. 

of  their  speech,  their  unusual  frankness,  needs  apology 
and  example?  But  he  was  far  other  than  a  bitter  critic  ; 
though  thank  God  for  eveiy  drop  of  that  bitterness,  that 
came  like  a  wholesome  rebuke  on  the  dead,  saltless  sea 
of  American  life  !  .  Thank  God  for  every  indignant 
protest,  for  every  Christian  admonition,  that  the  Holy 
Spirit  breathed  through  those  manly  lips !  But,  if  he 
deserved  any  single  word,  it  was  'generous.'  Vir gener- 
osus  (magnanimous  man)  is  the  description  that  leaps 
to  the  lips  of  every  scholar.  He  was  generous  of  money. 
Born  on  a  New  England  farm  in  those  days  when  small 
incomes  made  every  dollar  matter  of  importance,  he  no 
sooner  had  command  of  wealth  than  he  lived  with  open 
hands.  Not  even  the  darling  ambition  of  a  great  library 
ever  tempted  him  to  close  his  ear  to  need.  Go  to  Venice 
or  Vienna,  to  Frankfort  or  to  Paris,  and  ask  the  refguees 
who  have  gone  back — when  here,  friendless  exiles  but 
for  him  —  under  whose  roof  they  felt  most  at  home.  One 
of  our  oldest  and  best  teachers  writes  me  that  telling  him 
once,  in  the  cars,  of  a  young  lad  of  rare  mathematical 
genius,  who  could  read  Laplace,  but  whom  narrow 
means  debarred  from  the  University  —  *Let  him  enter,' 
said  Theodore  Parker  :    'I  will  pay  his  bills.' 

*' No  sect,  no  special  study,  no  one  idea  bounded  his 
sympathy ;  but  he  was  generous  in  judgment  where  a 
common  man  would  have  found  it  hard  to  be  so. 
Though  he  does  not  go  Mown  to  dust  without  his  fame,' 
though  Oxford  and  Germany  sent  him  messages  of  sym- 
pathy, still  no  word  of  approbation  from  the  old  grand 
names  of  our  land,  no  honors  from  university  or  learned 
academy,  greeted  his  brave,  diligent,  earnest  life.  Men 
confess  that  they  voted  against  his  admission  to  scientific 


INTR  OD  UC  riON.  xx  v  i  i 

bodies  for  his  ideas,  feeling  all  the  while  that  his  brain 
could  furnish  half  the  academy;  and  yet,  thus  ostracized, 
he  was  the  most  generous,  more  than  just,  interpreter  of 
the  motives  of  those  about  him,  and  looked  on  while 
others  reaped  where  he  sowed,  with  most  generous  joy 
in  their  success.  Patiently  analyzing  character,  and 
masterly  in  marshalling  facts,  he  stamped  with  generous 
justice  the  world's  final  judgmemt  of  Webster;  and,  now 
that  the  soreness  of  the  battle  is  over,  friend  and  foe 
allow  it. 

"  He  was  generous  of  labor.  Books  never  served  to 
excuse  him  from  any  of  the  homehest  work.  Though 
'  living  wisdom  with  each  studious  year,'  and  passionately 
devoted  to  his  desk,  as  truly  as  was  said  of  Milton,  Uhe 
lowliest  duties  on  himself  he  laid.'  What  drudgery  of 
the  street  did  that  scholarly  hand  ever  refuse  ?  Who  so 
often  and  constant  as  he  in  the  trenches  when  a  slave 
case  made  our  city  a  camp?  Loving  books,  he  had  no 
jot  of  a  scholar's  indolence  or  timidity  but  joined  hands 
with  labor  everywhere.  Erasmus  would  have  found  him 
good  company,  and  Melancthon  got  brave  help  over  a 
Greek  manuscript;  but  the  likeliest  place  to  have  found 
him  in  that  age  would  have  been  at  Zwingle's  side  on  the 
battlefield  pierced  with  a  score  of  fanatic  spears ;  for, 
above  all  things,  he  was  terribly  in  earnest.  If  I  might 
paint  him  in  one  word,  I  should  say  he  was  always  in 
earnest. 

"  Fortunate  man  !  he  lived  long  enough  to  see  the 
eyes  of  the  whole  nation  turned  toward  him  as  to  a 
trusted  teacher;  fortunate,  indeed,  in  a  life  so  noble 
that  even  what  was  scorned  from  the  pulpit  will  surely 
become  oracular  from  the  tomb  ;  thrice  fortunate,  if  he 


xxviii  INTRODUCTION. 

loved  fame  and  future  influence,  that  the  leaves  which 
bear  his  thoughts  to  posterity  are  not  freighted  with 
words  penned  by  sickly  ambition,  or  wrung  from  hunger, 
but  with  earnest  thoughts  on  dangers  that  make  the 
ground  tremble  under  our  feet,  and  the  heavens  black 
over  our  head — the  only  literature  sure  to  live.  Ambi- 
tion says,  '  I  will  write  and  be  famous.'  It  is  only  a 
dainty  tournament,  a  sham  fight,  forgotten  when  the 
smoke  clears  away.  Real  books  are  like  Yorktown  or 
Waterloo,  whose  cannon  shook  continents  at  the  moment, 
an  echo  down  the  centuries.  Through  such  channels 
Parker  poured  his  thoughts. 

"  And  true  hearts  leaped  to  his  side.  No  man's  brain 
ever  made  him  warmer  friends;  no  man's  heart  ever 
held  them  firmer.  He  loved  to  speak  of  how  many 
hands  he  had  in  every  city,  in  every  land,  ready  to  work 
for  him.  With  royal  serenity  he  levied  on  all.  Vassal 
hearts  multiplied  the  great  chief's  powers ;  and  at  home 
the  gentlest  and  deepest  love,  saintly,  unequaled  devo- 
tion, made  every  hour  sunny,  held  off  every  care,  and 
left  him  double  hberty  to  work.  God  comfort  that 
widowed  heart ! 

"  Judge  him  by  his  friends.  No  man  suffered  any 
where  who  did  not  feel  sure  of  his  sympathy.  In  sick 
chambers,  and  by  the  side  of  suffering  humanity,  he  kept 
his  heart  soft  and  young.  No  man  lifted  a  hand  any 
where  for  truth  and  right  who  did  not  look  on  Theodore 
Parker  as  his  fellow-laborer.  When  men  hoped  for  the 
future,  this  desk  was  one  stone  on  which  they  planted 
their  feet.  Where  more  frequent  than  around  his  board 
would  you  find  men  familiar  with  Europe's  dungeons, 
and  the  mobs  of  our  own  streets  ?    Wherever  the  fugitive 


INTRODUCTION.  xxix 

slave  might  worship,  here  was  his  Gibraltar ;  over  his 
mantel,  however  scantily  furnished,  in  this  city  or  else- 
where, you  were  sure  to  find  a  picture  of  Parker. 

"  The  blessings  of  the  poor  are  his  laurels.  Say  that 
his  words  won  doubt  and  murmur  to  trust  in  a  living 
God  :  let  that  be  his  record.  Say  that  to  the  hated  and 
friendless  he  was  shield  and  buckler :  let  that  be  his 
epitaph.  The  glory  of  children  is  the  father's.  When 
you  voted  'That  Theodore  Parker  should  be  heard  in 
Boston,'  God  honored  you.  Well  have  you  kept  that 
pledge.  In  much  labor  and  with  many  sacrifices  he  has 
laid  the  corner-stone :  his  work  is  ended  here.  God 
calls  you  to  put  on  the  top  stone.  Let  fearless  lips  and 
Christian  lives  be  his  monument.' 

Garrison  also  bore  his  fitting  tribute  to  his  departed 
brother  in  the  great  conflict,  at  the  Anti-Slavery  Ses- 
sions :  — 

*'  Mental  independence  and  moral  courage  character- 
ized Theodore  Parker  in  respect  to  all  his  convictions  and 
acts.  He  was  not  technically  'a  Garrisonian  aboHtionist,' 
though  often  upon  that  platform,  but  voted  with  the 
Republican  party,  though  faithfully  rebuking  it  for  its 
timidity  and  growing  spirit  of  compromise.  He  was  no 
man's  man,  and  no  man's  follower,  but  acted  for  himself, 
bravely,  conscientiously,  and  according  to  bis  best  judg- 
ment. 

"  But  what  of  his  theology  ?  I  do  not  know  that  I  can 
state  the  whole  of  Parker's  creed,  but  I  remember  a  part 
of  it  :  '  There  is  one  God  and  Father  over  all,  absolute 
and  immutable,  whose  love  is  infinite,  and  therefore  in- 
exhaustible, and  whose  tender  mercies  are  over  all  the 
works  of  His  hand ;   and,  whether  in  the  body  or  out  of 


XXX  INTRODUCTION. 

the  body,  the  farthest  wanderer  from  the  fold  might  yet 
have  hope.'  He  beheved  in  the  continual  progress  and 
final  redemption  of  the  human  race ;  that  every  child  of 
God,  however  erring,  would  ultimately  be  brought  back. 
You  may  quarrel  with  that  theology,  if  you  please  :  I 
shall  not.  I  like  it ;  I  have  great  faith  in  it ;  I  accept  it. 
But  this  I  say  in  respect  to  mere  abstract  theological 
opinions  —  the  longer  I  live  the  less  do  I  care  about  them, 
the  less  do  I  make  them  a  test  of  character.  It  is  noth- 
ing to  me  that  any  man  calls  himself  a  Methodist,  or 
Baptist,  or  Unitarian,  or  Universalist.  These  sectarian 
shibboleths  are  easily  taken  upon  the  lip,  especially  when 
the  ofilence  of  the  cross  has  ceased.  Whoever  will,  with 
his  theology,  grind  out  the  best  grist  for  our  common 
humanity,  is  the  best  theologian  for  me. 

"Many  years  ago,  Thomas  Jefferson  uttered  a  senti- 
ment which  shocked  our  eminently  Christian  country, 
as  being  thoroughly  infidel :  '  I  do  not  care,'  said  he, 
'  whether  my  neighbor  believes  in  one  God,  or  in  twenty 
gods,  if  he  does  not  pick  my  pocket.'  Thus  going  to  the 
root  of  absolute  justice  and  morality,  and  obviously 
meaning  this  :  if  a  man  pick  my  pocket,  it  is  in  vain  he 
tells  me,  in  palliation  of  his  crime,  I  am  a  believer  in  one 
true  and  living  God.  That  may  be  ;  but  you  are  a  pick- 
pocket, nevertheless.  Or  he  may  say,  I  have  not  only 
one  God,  but  twenty  gods  :  therefore,  I  am  not  guilty. 
Nay,  but  you  are  a  thief  !  And  so  we  always  throw  our- 
selves back  ui)on  character ;  upon  the  fact  whether  a  man 
is  honest,  just,  long-suffering,  merciful ;  and  not  whether 
he  believes  in  a  denominational  creed,  or  is  a  strict  ob- 
server of  rites  and  ceremonies.  This  was  the  religion  of 
Theodore  Parker,  always  exciting  his  maiTellous  powers 


INTR  OD  UC  TION.  xxxi 

to  promote  the  common  good,  to  bless  those  who  needed 
a  blessing,  and  to  seek  and  to  save  the  lost ;  to  bear  tes- 
timony in  favor  of  the  right  in  the  face  of  an  ungodly 
age,  and  against  a  'frowning  world.'  We  are  here  to 
honor  his  memory.  How  can  we  best  show  our  estima- 
tion of  him?  By  trying  to  be  like  him  in  nobility  of  soul, 
in  moral  heroism,  in  fidelity  to  the  truth,  in  disinterested 
regard  for  the  welfare  of  others. 

"  Mr.  Parker,  though  strong  in  his  convictions,  was  no 
dogmatist,  and  assumed  no  robes  of  infallibility.  No 
man  was  more  docile  in  regard  to  being  taught,  even  by 
the  lowliest.  Mr.  Phillips  has  done  him  no  more  than 
justice,  when  he  said  that  he  was  willing  and  eager  to 
obtain  instruction  from  any  quarter.  Hence  he  was  al- 
ways inquiring  of  those  with  whom  he  came  in  contact, 
so  that  he  might  learn,  if  possible,  something  from  them 
that  might  aid  him  in  the  great  work  in  which  he  was 
engaged. 

"When  the  question  of  'Woman's  Rights'  first  came 
up  for  discussion,  like  multitudes  of  others,  Mr.  Parker 
was  inclined  to  treat  it  facetiously,  and  supposed  it  could 
be  put  aside  with  a  smile.  Still  it  was  his  disposition  to 
hear  and  to  learn  ;  and  as  soon  as  he  began  to  investigate, 
and  to  see  the  grandeur  and  world-wide  importance  of 
the  'Woman's  Rights'  movement,  he  gave  to  it  his  hearty 
support  before  the  country  and  the  world. 

"  How  he  will  be  missed  by  those  noble,  but  unfortunate, 
exiles  who  come  to  Boston  from  the  old  world  from  time 
to  time,  driven  out  by  the  edicts  of  European  despotism  ! 
What  a  home  was  Theodore  Parker's  for  them  !  How 
they  loved  to  gather  round  him  in  that  home  !  And  what 
a  sympathizing  friend  and  trusty  adviser,  and  generous 


xxxii  INTRODUCTION. 

assistant,  in  their  times  of  sore  distress,  tliey  have  found 
in  him  !  There  are  many  such  in  Boston  and  various 
parts  of  our  country  who  have  fled  from  foreign  oppres- 
sion, who  will  hear  of  his  death  with  great  sorrow  of 
heart,  and  drop  grateful  tears  to  his  memory." 

From  foreign  thinkers  and  writers  recognition  comes, 
and  will  gain  in  strength  as  the  years  pass.  As  early  as 
1846,  James  Martineau  in  a  review  of  Mr.  Parker's  "Dis- 
course on  Religion,"  in  The  Prospective  Ranew  for  Feb- 
ruary, 1846,  says  :  — 

"Gladly  then  do  we  gird  up  our  hearts  to  follow  the 
bold  and  noble  steps  of  Theodore  Parker  over  the  ample 
province  of  thought  which  he  traverses  in  his  Discourse 
on  Religion.  However  startUng  the  positions  to  which 
he  conducts  us,  and  however  breathless  the  impetuosity 
with  which  he  hurries  on,  the  region  over  which  he  flies 
is  no  dreamland,  but  a  real  one,  which  will  be  laid  down 
truly  or  falsely  in  the  minds  of  reflecting  men  :  his  survey 
of  it  is  grand  and  comprehensive,  complete  in  its  bound- 
aries, if  not  always  accurate  in  its  contents  ;  and  the  glass 
of  clear  and  reverential  faith  through  which  he  looks  at 
all  things,  presents  the  most  familiar  objects  in  aspects 
beautiful  and  new.  .  .  . 

"  So  vast  a  mass  of  matter,  requiring  for  its  manage- 
ment a  very  various  skill,  cannot,  it  may  be  supposed,  be 
dealt  with  by  one  man,  otherwise  than  superficially.  Yet 
there  is  a  mastery  shown  over  every  element  of  the  great 
subject ;  and  the  slight  treatment  of  it  in  parts  no  reader 
can  help  attributing  to  the  plan  of  the  work,  rather  than  to 
the  incapacity  of  the  author.  From  the  resources  of  a 
mind  singularly  exuberant  by  nature  and  laboriously  en- 
riched by  culture,  a  system  of  results  is  here  thrown  up  and 


INTRODUCTION.  xxxiii 

spread  out  in  luminous  exposition  :  and  though  the  pro- 
cesses are  often  imperfectly  indicated  by  which  they  have 
been  reached,  they  so  evidently  come  from  the  deep  and 
vital  action  of  an  understanding  qualified  to  mature  them 
that  an  opponent  who  might  stigmatize  the  book  as  super- 
ficial would  never  venture  to  call  the  author  so.  There 
are  few  men  livino^,  we  suspect,  who  would  like  to  have  a 
controversy  with  him  on  any  one  of  his  many  heresies. 
The  references  in  his  notes,  though  often  only  general, 
are,  when  needful,  sufficiently  specific  and  various  to 
show  an  extent  of  reading  truly  astonishing  in  so  young 
a  writer"  [Parker  was  only  thirty-two  when  he  published 
the  work  Dr.  Martineau  was  now  reviewing]  ;  "yet  the 
glow  and  brilliancy  of  his  page  prove  that  the  accumula- 
tive mass  of  other  men's  thought  and  learning  has  been 
but  the  fuel  of  his  own  genius.  The  copiousness  of  Ger- 
man erudition,  systematized  with  a  French  precision, 
seems  here  to  have  been  absorbed  by  a  mind  having 
the  moral  massiveness,  the  hidden  tenderness,  the  strong 
enthusiasm,  of  an  English  nature. 

"The  least  perfect  of  his  achievements  appears  to  us 
to  be  the  metaphysical ;  he  is  too  ardent  to  preserve  self- 
consistency  throughout  the  parts  of  a  large  abstract 
scheme ;  too  impetuous  for  the  fine  analysis  of  intricate 
and  evanescent  phenomena.  His  philosophical  training, 
however,  gives  him  great  advantages  in  his  treatment  of 
concrete  things  and  his  views  of  human  affairs ;  and  in 
nothing  would  he,  in  our  opinion,  more  certainly  excel 
than  in  history  —  whether  the  history  of  thought  and 
knowledge  or  of  society  and  institutions. 

"As  to  the  form  in  which  our  author  presents  his  ideas, 
our  readers  must  judge  of  that  from  the  passages  we  may 


xxxiv  INTRODUCTION. 

have  occasion  to  quote.  We  have  small  patience  at  any 
time  with  the  criticisms  on  style  in  which  '  Belle-Lettres 
men '  and  rhetoricians  delight ;  and  where  we  speak  to 
one  another  of  the  solemn  mysteries  of  life  and  duty  in 
God,  such  things  affect  us  like  a  posture-master's  discus- 
sions of  Christ's  sitting  attitude  in  the  Sermon  on  the 
Mount,  or  some  prudish  milliner's  critique  on  the  peni- 
tent wiping  his  feet  with  her  hair.  Men  who  neither 
think  nor  feel,  but  only  learn,  pretend,  and  imitate,  may 
make  an  art  out  of  the  deepest  utterances  of  the  human 
soul ;  but  from  these  histrionic  beings,  who  would  ap- 
plaud the  elocution  of  Isaiah,  and  study  the  delivery  of 
a  '  Father,  forgive  them  ! '  such  a  man  as  Theodore  Parker 
recalls  us  with  a  joyful  shame.  He  reasons,  he  meditates, 
he  loves,  he  scorns,  he  weeps,  he  worships,  aloud.  It 
may  be  thought  very  improper  that  a  man  should  thus 
publish  himselfj  instead  of  some  choice,  decorous  ex- 
cerjDts,  fit  for  the  public  eye.  As,  in  prayer  to  God,  it  is 
deemed  in  these  days  no  sin  to  utter,  instead  of  our  real 
desires,  something  else  which  we  should  hold  it  decent  to 
desire  ;  so,  in  addressing  men,  it  is  esteemed  wise,  not  to 
say,  or  even  to  inquire,  what  we  do  think,  but  to  put  forth 
what  it  might  be  as  well  to  think.  Weary  of  all  this,  and 
finding  nothing  but  a  holy  dulness  and  sickly  unreality  in 
the  conventional  theology  of  pulpit  and  the  press,  we  de- 
light in  our  author's  irrepressible  unreserve.  No  doubt 
there  are  rash  judgments ;  there  is  extravagant  expres- 
sion ;  the  coloring  of  his  emotions  is  sometimes  too  vivid, 
the  edge  of  his  indignation  too  shaqD.  But  he  believes, 
and  therefore  does  he  speak.  You  have  his  mind.  These 
things  are  true  to  him.  .  .  . 

"Honor  then   to   the   manly  simplicity  of  Theodore 


INTRODUCTION.  xxxv 

Parker.  Perish  who  may  among  Scribes  and  Pharisees, 
—  'orthodox  Uars  for  God/  —  //^  at  least  ' has  delivered 
his  soul.'  .  .  . 

"  His  vast  reading,  and  his  quick  sympathy  with  what 
is  great  and  generous  of  every  kind,  has  given  an  eclectic 
character  to  his  philosophy.  His  mind  refuses  to  let  go 
anything  that  is  true  and  excellent.  .  .   . 

"In  the  Discourse  on  Rehgion,  he  has  nowhere  stated 
the  principles  of  his  ethical  doctrine,  or  bridged  over  the 
chasm  which  separates  it  from  his  theology.  But  the 
purity  and  depth  of  his  conceptions  of  character,  his  in- 
tense abhorrence  of  falsehood  and  evil,  the  moral  lofti- 
ness of  his  devotion,  and  the  generous  severity  of  his 
rebuke,  are  in  the  strongest  contradiction  to  the  serene 
complacency  of  a  mind  suspended  in  metaphysic  eleva- 
tion above  the  point  where  truth  and  error,  right  and 
wrong,  diverge,  and  looking  down  from  a  station  whence 
all  things  look  equally  divine. 

"If  there  is  any  one  who  for  his  judgment  on  the  his- 
torical evidence  for  the  miracles,  chooses  to  denounce 
him  as  'no  Christian' ;  who  conceives  that  a  literary  ver- 
dict, referring  the  Gospels  to  the  second  century  instead 
of  the  first,  outlaws  a  man  from  'the  Kingdom  of  God' ; 
who  can  read  this  book,  and  suppose  in  his  heart  that 
here  is  a  man  whom  Jesus  would  have  driven  from  the 
company  of  his  disciples, —  we  can  only  wish  that  the 
accuser's  title  to  the  name  was  as  obvious  as  the  accused's. 
Alas  for  this  poor  wrangling  !  To  hear  the  boastful  anger 
of  our  stout  believers,  one  would  suppose  that  to  take  up 
our  faith  on  too  easy  terms,  and  to  be  drawn  into  disciple- 
ship  less  by  logic  than  by  love,  were  the  very  Sin  against 
the  Holy  Ghost !    Jesus  thought  it  might  not  be  too  much 


xxxvi  INTRODUCTION, 

to  expect  of  his  enemies,  that,  being  eye-witnesses,  they 
might  *  beheve  his  works ' ;  but  of  his  friends  it  was  the 
mark,  that  they  would  'beheve  him.'  But  now-a-days 
who  are  our  '  patient  Christians,'  ever  busy  with  indict- 
ments against  all  counterfeits?  Why,  men  who  think  it 
supremely  ridiculous  to  accept  anything  or  being  as 
divine,  unless  visible  certificates  of  character  be  written 
on  earth,  air,  and  water,  and  Heaven,  will  pawn  the  laws 
of  nature  as  personal  securities. 

"We  part  with  Theodore  Parker  in  hope  to  meet 
again.  He  has,  we  are  persuaded,  a  task,  severe  perhaps, 
but  assuredly  noble,  to  achieve  in  this  world.  The  work 
we  have  reviewed  is  the  confession,  at  the  threshold  of 
a  high  career,  of  a  great  Reforming  soul,  that  has  thus 
cleared  itself  of  hindrance,  and  girded  up  itself  for  a 
faithful  future.  The  slowness  of  success  awaiting  those 
who  stand  apart  from  the  multitude  will  not  dismay  him. 
He  knows  the  ways  of  Providence  too  well." 

In  Stopford  Brooke's  Life  and  Letters  of  F.  W.  Robert- 
son, he  says  :  — 

"Theodore  Parker  he  admired  for  the  eloquence, 
earnestness,  learning,  and  indignation  against  evil,  and 
against  forms  without  a  spirit,  which  mark  his  writings." 
"  Much  that  Theodore  Parker  says  on  the  subject  of  in- 
spiration is  very  valuable,  though  I  am  of  opinion  that 
Martineau  has,  with  much  sagacity  and  subtlety,  corrected 
in  the  review  certain  expressions  which  are  too  unguarded, 
and  which,  unless  modified,  are  untrue."  "  Dissenters 
anathematize  Unitarians,  and  Unitarians  of  the  Old 
School  condemn  the  more  spiritual  ones  of  the  New." 

From  a  French  pasteur,  Dr.  Albert  Reville,  came  ap- 
preciative words :  — 


INTRODUCTION.  xxxvii 

"  Arrived  at  the  end,  we  must  ask  ourselves  what  re- 
mains of  that  brilUant  existence  which  we  have  sketched, 
and  to  what  extent  Parker's  vision  was  prophetic  when, 
on  his  death-bed,  he  saw  himself  doubled,  and  contin- 
uing his  work  in  America,  while  his  body  dissolved  in  an 
Itahan  soil. 

"  Parker  founded  neither  a  church  nor  a  school.  His 
ministry,  his  words,  his  writings,  his  entire  life,  was  a  dem- 
onstration of  spirit  and  power,  rather  than  the  construc- 
tion of  anything  visible  and  organized  ;  consequently  it 
is  difficult  to  indicate  the  positive  results  of  his  efforts, 
although  the  latent  energy  of  the  principles  which  he 
proclaimed,  and  the  impressions  which  he  left  behind, 
are  incontestable. 

"What  a  fine  comment  have  the  last  five  years  [the 
years  includmg  the  American  War]  furnished  on  the  social 
and  religious  teachings  of  the  Boston  preacher.  Hardly 
had  his  ashes  grown  cold,  when  the  Union  arrived  upon 
the  border  of  that  Red  Sea  which  he  had  so  often  fore- 
told. It  arrived  there  without  suspecting  the  depth  of 
the  water,  and  imbued  with  illusions  and  prejudices  which 
could  not  but  make  the  passage  more  difficult  and  painful 
than  the  most  clear-sighted  could  have  foreseen. 

"  If  now  we  go  back  to  days  preceding  this  fearful 
duel,  we  may  say  without  the  least  exaggeration  that 
Parker  shines  in  the  first  rank  of  those  who  cried  to  the 
North  most  energetically,  Be  on  your  guard ;  and  who 
contributed  most  largely  to  arouse  the  mind  of  the  people 
out  of  that  torpor  into  which  it  had  been  thrown  by  mate- 
rial prosperity.  The  Massachusetts  volunteers  were  the 
first  in  the  hour  of  the  greatest  peril  to  make  their  bodies 
a  rampart  around  the  Federal  capital,  seriously  menaced 


xxxviii  INTRODUCTION. 

by  the  insurgent  army.  The  silver  and  gold  of  New 
England  never  ceased  to  flow  forth,  even  in  the  darkest 
hours,  to  sustain  the  good  cause.  At  length  the  day  came 
when  the  President  of  the  United  States  saw  himself  able 
to  proclaim  the  abolition  of  slavery ;  which  he  did  amid 
the  plaudits  of  the  same  crowd  that  selfish  sophists  had 
so  long  tried  to  blind,  touching  interests  the  most  manifest. 
Parker's  ashes  may  well  have  thrilled  with  joy  when 
touched  by  the  news  reverberating  from  the  other  side 
of  the  Atlantic.  We  have  no  wish  to  glorify  our  hero  by 
letting  persons  little  instructed  in  American  affairs  take 
the  impression  that  the  Boston  pastor  was  the  principal 
author  of  that  patriotic  revolution.  But  we  must  not  un- 
derrate the  glorious  part  which  belongs  to  him ;  and  if 
only  you  know  the  man,  you  will  comprehend  the  in- 
fluence which  he  exercised  on  those  eminent  citizens  of 
the  Union,  Wendell  Phillips,  Chase,  Seward,  Sumner,  Hale, 
Banks,  Horace  Mann,  and  others,  his  friends,  his  admirers, 
his  fellow-combatants,  with  whom  he  ceaselessly  conversed 
and  corresponded,  encouraging  them,  consoling  them, 
commending  them,  sometimes  frankly  blaming  them, 
always  feeling  a  warm  interest  in  their  noble  endeavors, 
always  ready  to  enhance  his  public  instructions  by  his 
generous  and  faithful  example.  Who,  moreover,  can 
measure  the  amount  of  liberal  feeling  which  his  numerous 
lectures  poured  into  the  different  States  of  the  Union? 
How  often  ears  of  corn,  ripened  before  others  under  the 
rays  of  that  frank  and  enlightened  liberalism,  foretold  the 
hour  of  the  coming  harvest !  All  that  cannot  be  calcu- 
lated, but  it  has  weight  —  immense  weight  —  in  the  scales 
of  the  history  of  God's  kingdom  on  earth. 

"  Theodore  Parker  undermined  slavery  by  his  bold  criti- 


INTRODUCTION.  xxxix 

cisms  of  the  Bible  more,  perhaps,  than  by  the  discourses 
directly  prompted  by  the  horror  the  observance  called 
forth  in  his  mind.  And  as  a  theology  more  liberal  than 
that  which  prevailed  around  him  was  in  his  hands  a  mar- 
vellous instrument  of  political  liberalism,  so  the  future 
will  show  us  America  profiting  by  its  political  liberalism 
to  realize,  sooner  and  better  than  any  other  nation,  the 
religious  liberalism  after  which  the  soul  of  our  age  is 
sighing.  For  all  liberalisms,  like  all  liberties,  are  linked 
together.  It  is  chiefly  as  a  religious  thinker  and  writer 
that  Theodore  Parker  belongs  to  the  future. 

"  What  ought  we  in  general  to  think  of  Parker's  reli- 
gious work  ?  This  question  interests  the  old  world  not  less 
than  the  new.  We  may  describe  Parker's  religion  as 
Christian  Theism,  and  the  characteristic  of  that  mode  of 
religion  is  this  —  that  to  one  or  two  very  simple  and,  if 
I  may  so  speak,  very  sober  doctrines,  it  adds  a  great  rich- 
ness of  applications  to  individual  and  social  life.  For 
ourselves  there  is  not  the  slightest  doubt  that  all  the  cur- 
rents of  our  modern  life  lead  us  to  that  side  of  religion ; 
and  we  are  not  shaken  in  that  conviction  by  the  cries  of 
terror  uttered  by  those  who  desire  at  any  cost  that  we 
should  remain  immured  in  a  past  where  we  should  be 
stifled,  any  more  than  by  the  frivolous  predictions  which 
fall  from  those  who,  disowning  one  of  the  most  ineradi- 
cable instincts  of  human  nature,  go  about  declaring  that 
we  are  hastening  on  to  the  end  of  all  religion.  There 
will  arise  in  the  near  future  a  prolific  synthesis  of  religion 
and  liberty,  under  the  aegis  of  spiritualism.  Under  wliat 
form  and  to  what  point  has  Theodore  Parker  contributed 
to  prepare  this  magnificent  future  ?  We  must  not  look 
for  a  professor  of  systematic  theology  in  Theodore  Parker  : 


xl  INTR  OD  UC  T/ON. 

he  is  an  originator,  he  is  a  singer  inspired  with  the  future. 
You  may  reject  many  of  his  ideas,  but  if  you  all  love  re- 
ligious liberty  and  social  progress  you  cannot  but  warmly 
sympathize  with  the  man.  It  is  much  less  system  of  doc- 
trine he  will  give  you  than  impressions,  consolations, 
hopes,  courage,  faith.  His  religion  is  not  an  abstract 
theory,  but  a  spontaneous  fact  of  his  nature.  As  he 
himself  remarked,  '  his  head  is  not  more  natural  to  his 
body  than  his  religion  to  his  soul.'  His  science,  his  eru- 
dition, very  great  in  reality  and  of  the  best  grain,  are  not 
the  servants,  but  the  auxiliaries,  the  friends,  of  his  un- 
shaken faith  in  the  living  God,  and  aid  him  to  put  away 
everything  in  the  dogmas  and  institutions  of  former  days 
which  hindered  him  from  enjoying  the  Heavenly  Father's 
immediate  presence  and  from  bathing  in  the  waters  of 
infinite  love.  Truth  in  Parker  is,  you  feel,  a  necessity, 
a  passion  of  his  nature,  on  account  of  which  you  pardon 
his  outbursts  ;  such  is  the  courage  and  loyalty  of  his  soul. 
Let  us  remember  that  the  age  is  going  forward,  that 
modern  society  in  its  imperious  exigencies  calls  hence- 
forth for  more  radical  and  exact  solutions  than  the  com- 
promises which  up  till  now  have  been  accounted  satisfac- 
tory. For  that,  need  is  there  of  the  generous  audacity 
of  Parker,  going  straight  ahead  without  troubling  him- 
self about  the  dust  he  raises  in  passing  through  so 
many  ruins,  his  eyes  ever  fixed  on  the  everlasting 
light.  Moreover,  it  would  be  unjust  to  see  in  him 
only  the  severe  and  energetic  wrestler.  There  is  in  his 
nature,  —  and  this  constitutes  its  charm,  —  by  the  side 
of  and  below  his  revolutionary  ardor,  a  pure  and  rich 
mysticism,  delightful  to  contemplate.  His  profound 
faith  in  the    living   God  carries   him   beyond   the   poor 


INTRODUCTION.  xli 

world  in  which  we  live,  and  transports  him  before  the 
time  into  the  region  of  celestial  harmonies.  He  is  one 
of  those  thinkers  who,  to  unsparing  censure  of  the  men 
and  the  things  of  their  own  times,  have  joined  the 
most  serene  anticipations  of .  the  definite  future  of 
humanity.  To  the  feverish  agitations  of  his  career  as 
a  reformer,  his  religion  is  that  which  the  depths  of 
the  ocean  are  to  the  surface  which  the  winds  toss  into 
confusion.  After  every  tempest  the  inviolable  calm  of 
the  abyss  resumes  its  mastery  over  the  entire  mass, 
which,  again  peaceful  and  smiling,  reflects  the  boundless 
azure  of  the  sky. 

"  To  sum  up,  Parker  was  essentially  a  prophet ;  and 
he  is  one  of  those  contemporaneous  appearances  which, 
better  than  laborious  researches,  enable  us  to  understand 
certain  phenomena  which  at  first  sight  one  would  think 
belonged  exclusively  to  the  past.  What  were  the  prophets 
in  the  bosom  of  Israel?  Not  diviners,  not  utterers  of 
supernatural  oracles,  as  is  too  often  fancied.  They  were 
the  organs  of  a  grand  idea, —  a  simple,  austere,  even 
abstract  idea,  —  hidden  in  the  hfeart  of  the  national 
tradition  :  the  idea  of  pure  monotheism.  In  order  to 
disengage  that  idea  from  what  disfigured  it,  from  the 
people's  sins  which  caused  it  to  be  misapprehended, 
from  the  abuses  of  a  priesthood  and  a  throne  interested, 
as  they  thought,  in  its  remaining  forgotten,  the  prophets 
persisted  in  their  path  of  duty  in  spite  of  all  opposition ; 
and  notwithstanding  the  ill-will  of  which  they  were  the 
objects  at  every  step,  they  came  forth  from  the.  old  soil 
of  Israel  always  with  a  deeper  faith  and  a  stouter  heart. 
For  their  force  sprang  from  the  fact  that  at  the  bottom 
the  spirit  of  Israel   conspired  with  their  spirit,  and  the 


xlii  INTR  OD  UC  TION. 

more  hostility  that  spirit  encountered  the  more  did  it 
become  conscious  of  itself,  and  the  more  it  asserted 
itself  clearly  and  demonstratively.  Kings,  priests,  people 
—  all  might  find  the  prophets  unendurable,  but  within 
a  secret  voice  declared  to  them  that  nevertheless  the 
prophets  were  in  the  right.  In  the  same  way  the  spirit 
of  Protestantism  and  of  the  American  constitution  took 
possession  of  Theodore  Parker  near  his  father's  work- 
shop, as  of  old  the  spirit  of  Monotheism  seized  the 
prophet  by  the  side  of  his  plow  or  under  his  wild  fig-trees. 
This  man,  who  might  have  lived  at  ease  beneath  the 
shadow  of  his  pines,  in  the  midst  of  the  flowers  of  his 
parsonage,  and  who  goes  out  to  preach  from  city  to  city 
'against  the  people's  sins,'  —  this  man  overruled  by  an 
idea  simple,  grand,  implicitly  contained  in  the  religion 
of  his  childhood  and  the  constitution  of  his  native  land  : 
the  idea  of  the  free  development  of  the  human  person- 
ality, — who  consecrates  his  existence  to  the  task  of 
disembarrassing  that  idea  from  all  the  shackles  created 
by  interests,  by  vices,  by  sacerdotalism,  by  officials' 
prerogatives ;  this  man,  who  refuses  every  compromise, 
who  has  no  kind  of  indulgence  for  political  or  commer- 
cial necessities ;  who,  in  spite  of  the  many  bitter  cups 
he  is  forced  to  drink,  joyously  proclaims  on  the  house- 
tops, and  foretells,  with  an  assurance  that  is  disconcerted 
by  nothing,  the  final  victory  of  truth  and  liberty  —  This 
Man  is  a  Prophet. 

"  Not  only  for  the  United  States  was  Parker  a  prophet. 
His  patriotism  was  not  exclusive ;  he  felt  himself  to  be 
literally  a  citizen  of  the  world,  and  if  he  loved  America 
so  well  it  is  because  in  her  he  saw  the  predestined  soil 
where  some  day  the  ideal,  dreamt   of  in   our   Europe, 


INTRODUCTION.  xliii 

would    receive    full    realization.     For   us    also,    at    the 
moment   when   long-established    edifices  and  traditions 
nod  to  their  fall ;  when   it   is  anxiously  asked,  whether 
they  will  not  in  their  fall  crush  both  those  who  uphold 
and  those  who  assail  them,  such  a  man  as  Parker  is  a 
prophet  of  consolation  and  hope.     He  is  right ;  no  cow- 
ardly fears  !  whatever  happen,  man  will  remain  man.     In 
his  very  nature,  such  as  God  has  made  it,  there  will  ever  be 
the  revelations  and  the  promises  which  produce  beautiful 
lives  and  beautiful  deaths.     And  what  more  is  needed? 
Happy  the  churches  who  shall  find  in  their  essential  prin- 
ciples the  right  to  open  themselves  without  resolution  to 
that  imperishable  Christianity  of  which  Theodore  Parker 
was   the    inspired    preacher !     The    fundamental    truth 
which  he  maintained,  namely,  that  in  the  last  analysis 
everything  rests  on  conscience  ;  that  God  reveals  Him- 
self to  whosoever  seeks    after  Him ;  that   the    salvation 
of  man  and   society,  on   earth    as   well   as    in   heaven, 
depends  not  on  dogmas,  not  on  rites,  not  on  miracles, 
not  on  priesthoods,  nor  on  books,  but  on  '  Christ  in  us '  : 
on  a  pure  and  honest  heart,  on  a  loving  soul,  on  a  will 
devoted    and    active,  —  this    truth    will    live    and   cause 
us  to  live  with  it.     And  the  church  for  which  he  prayed, 
which  shall  be  spacious  enough  to  contain  all  the  sincere, 
all  the  disinterested,  all  the  morally  great,  all  the  inno- 
cent, and  all  the    repentant  —  that    Church,  truly   uni- 
versal, which  in  the  past  already  unites  so  many    noble 
souls  separated  by  barriers  now  tottering  —  that  church 
will  never   perish.     Even   the    death   of    the    prophets 
would  not  for  an  hour  retard  the  triumph  of  the  truth 
which  they  preach,  and  the  moment  ever  comes  when 
humanity,    confused    and  yet  grateful,  perceived  that  it 
was    ignorantly  stoning  the  organs  of  the  Holy  Spirit." 


xliv  INTRODUCTION. 

From  Germany  as  early  as  1856,  Professor  Gervinus, 
of  Heidelburg,  the  eminent  writer  on  the  Philosophy 
of  History,  wrote  of  the  introduction  of  Mr.  Parker's 
writings  and  the  interest  felt  there:  — 

"  Honored  Sir,  —  The  lines  from  your  own  hand  are 
so  precious  to  me  that  I  hasten  thankfully  to  reply.     The 
announcement   in  your  letter  that  we  already  have  the 
pleasure   of  personally   knowing   you  —  in  fact,  without 
being  aware  of  it  —  took  me  not  disagreeably  by  surprise. 
When  we  saw  you  at  our  house  in  1844,  it  was,  in  fact, 
before  we  knew  who  Parker  was ;  for  it  is   only  since 
the   German  translations  of  your  writings  that  we  have 
become   acquainted   with   you  —  American    books    are 
so   seldom    sent   to   us.     And,   unfortunately,  so  many 
people   pass   through   this   little  gathering-point   of  the 
great  routes   that  the  interesting  visitors  rejoice  us  less 
in  the  mass   of  indifferent  ones ;  but   that  you   should 
have  been  lost  to  us  in  this  manner  disturbs  us  greatly. 
It  must,  however,   humiliating   as   it   is,    be   confessed. 
My  wife,  who  is  an  enthusiastic  admirer  of  yours,  was 
in   a   sort   of    despair.     We   rejoice   every   day   at   the 
happy  idea  of  Herr   Ziethen   to   translate    your   works. 
I    hope    that,  gradually,  this   will    have  wide    and   deep 
results.     We  possess  your  liberal   standpoint    in  theory, 
in  learning,  in    the  schools ;  we    have    it   in   the  broad 
circle  of  the  world,  among  all  people  of  common  sense  ; 
but  we  repel  it  from  the  place  whence  it  ought   to   be 
taught  and  planted,  so  that  morality  and  religion  might 
not   disappear  with    obscurantism.     Everybody   among 
us  knows  how  it  stands  with   the   religious   convictions 
of  the  majority,  only  the  pulpit  does  not  dare  to  say  it ; 
that  is  the  domain  of  official  hyj)ocrisy.     Consequently, 
the  calling  of   the  clergyman  has  been    altogether   cor- 


INTRODUCTION.  xlv 

rupted ;  let  sermons  sound  ever  so  high,  the  whole 
profession  is  one  of  the  most  despised  in  Germany.  I 
hope  that  the  impression  of  your  discourses  will  be  fav- 
orable to  a  practical  theology  among  us.  I  can  remark 
how  much  they  have  improved  the  orthodox  themselves. 
I  do  what  I  can  to  circulate  them,  in  order  to  make 
propaganda  of  the  theologians." 

In  1876,  in  an  article  on  Theodore  Parker  and  the 
Unitarians  of  Boston,   The  Inquirer  said  :  — 

"  The  fame  of  Theodore  Parker  and  his  noble  work 
is  growing  more  brilliant  with  every  receding  year.  That 
Fugitive  Slave  Law  itself  was  the  Act  of  a  northern 
statesman  who  was  at  least  intimately  connected  with 
the  Unitarian  body,  and  was  zealously  upheld  by  states- 
men and  politicians  and  lawyers  —  especially  of  the 
Boston  school — who  were  avowed  Unitarians.  That 
was  a  dark  blot  on  the  history  of  American  Unitarians ; 
and  it  would  be  better  to  leave  it  in  obscurity  than  drag 
it  again  to  the  light  of  day.  But  there  was  one  great 
man  — 

"  '  Faithful  found 

Among  the  faithless,  faithful  only  he 

Among  innumerable  false,  unmoved, 

Unshaken,  unseduced,  unterrified. 

His  loyalty  he  kept,  his  love,  his  zeal; 

Nor  numbers  nor  example  with  him  wrought 

To  swerve  from  truth,  or  change  his  constant  mind. 

Though  single.' 

"And  of  Parker,  as  of  Abdiel,  it  might  also  be  said 
that  — 

"  '  he  passed 
Long  way  through  hostile  scorn, 
And  with  retorted  scorn  his  back  he  turned.* 


xlvi  INTRODUCTION. 

When  this  man  set  himself  to  his  life-work  of  withstand- 
ing and  subverting  to  the  foundation  tliis  gigantic  iniquity ; 
when  he  not  only  thundered  in  the  pulpit  against  the 
national  sin,  but  armed  himself  to  resist  the  Fugitive 
Slave  Law  even  unto  the  death ;  when  all  his  acts  and 
predictions  are  more  than  justified  by  that  great  result 
which  was  due  chiefly  to  him  and  to  reformers  like  him  ; 
when  all  brave  thinkers  and  true  workers  everywhere  — 
except  in  Boston  —  have  learned  to  love  and  revere  his 
name,  and  are  erecting  a  monument  to  his  memory  in 
their  hearts,  what  can  we  think  of  the  petty  backbiting 
criticism,  both  here  and  in  America,  which  makes  it 
a  serious  charge  against  him  —  a  strong  ground  for  refus- 
ing to  republish  his  greatest  book  —  that  he  once  said, 
half  in  jest,  half  in  earnest,  of  some  Unitarian  ministers, 
'stuff  them  with  good  dinners,  and  freedom,  the- 
ology, religion,  may  go  to  the  devil  for  all  them*? 
The  real  thing  to  be  considered  is,  was  it  not  true  of 
some  at  least :  and  might  not  far  worse  things  have  been 
said  of  the  Divines  who  practically  exalted  the  laws  of 
the  Devil  above  the  laws  of  freedom,  conscience,  and 
God?" 

The  twenty-three  years  which  have  passed  from  i860  to 
1883  have  removed  the  name  and  fame  of  Theodore 
Parker  from  the  roll  of  the  workers,  the  thinkers,  and 
the  martyrs  of  the  world  to  the  position  he  will  now  hold. 
He  has  passed  into  history  as  one  of  the  greatest  Amer- 
icans. His  influence  was  manifold,  his  memory  is  now 
respected,  if  nothing  more,  and  by  many  it  is  regarded 
as  saintly. 

Let  the  great  leader  have  from  distant  lands  and  his  own 
people  just  meed  of  praise  and  reward.     Each  year  brings 


INTR  on  UC  TION.  xl  vi  i 

him  more  before  the  people  as  a  leader,  a  firm  friend  to 
humanity.  These  Lives  have  all  their  place,  their  value, 
and  still  .there  is  room  for  more,  for  another  work  which 
shall  appeal  directly  to  the  new  circle  of  readers  which 
has  grown  up  in  the  last  decade,  —  the  readers  who  desire 
to  know  the  motive  power,  the  life-work,  the  personality, 
of  the  great  Boston  preacher  who  drew  and  held  his 
thousands  of  hearers  every  Sunday  for  years,  —  who  would 
have  gone  on,  to  triumphantly  vindicate  his  position,  as  a 
single-minded,  noble-hearted  disciple  of  his  Master  if 
time  had  been  granted  him. 

Early  years  of  excessive  bodily  and  mental  toil,  of 
actual  privation  for  one  of  his  mental  and  physical 
calibre,  of  exhausting  thought  and  study,  a  middle  life 
spent  in  a  desperate  struggle  for  the  strength  to  do 
his  earnest  work,  and  the  most  intense  devotion  to 
the  cause  of  freedom  of  thought  in  every  path  of  life, 
made  the  days  of  this  great,  earnest  thinker  and  worker 
comparatively  short,  yet  into  his  fifty  years  were  crowded 
the  enthusiasm,  the  immense  acquisition  of  knowledge, 
the  ripened  study  of  the  fourscore  years  of  the  Psalmist. 
It  was  an  ideal  life  in  its  force  and  intensity  —  the  spirit 
of  the  enthusiast  and  the  exact  knowledge  of  the  scholar 
united  in  it  in  a  singular  degree  with  the  devotion  to 
humanity  which  was  so  overpowering  that  the  superficial 
and  hasty  multitude  too  often  called  him  iconoclast, 
atheist,  and  many  more  opprobrious  epithets  because 
they  thought  in  his  love  for  mankind  he  forgot  the  Maker 
of  all. 

Years  have  brought  greater  breadth  and  tolerance, 
and  to  two  English  authors  we  owe  excellent  lives  of 
Mr.  Parker.     The  first,  written  by  Peter  Dean,  appeared 


xlviii  INTRODUCTION. 

in  1877,  and  this  gentleman  makes  acknowledgment  of 
indebtedness  to  the  Lives  by  Weiss  and  Frothingham, 
with  thanks  for  the  assistance  of  James  Martineau  and 
other  English  friends  of  Mr.  Parker.  This  biography 
is  very  attractively  written,  and  the  autlior  has  faithfully 
gathered  from  many  sources  all  that  could  interest  the 
reader.  The  book,  as  already  stated,  is  dedicated  to 
Frances  Power  Cobbe. 

This  last,  but  not  least,  sketch  of  Mr.  Parker  is  inter- 
esting and  attractive.  It  is  not  loaded  with  any  superfluous 
details.  It  is  brief,  comprehensive,  and  clear  in  its 
conception.  The  outline  is  sharp  and  the  portrait 
clear  and  accurate.  The  author  has  put  into  eight 
chapters  the  marked  events  of  Mr.  Parker's  life  without 
marring  by  compression  the  marvellous  details  of  his 
industry,  his  study,  his  mental  vigor,  and  his  grand  love 
of  God  and  man.  Where  a  larger  work  will  have  one 
reader,  this  will  have  a  hundred,  it  is  so  admirably 
concise,  fitting,  and  powerful,  without  wanting  either 
picturesque  and  graphic  touches  or  animated  incidents. 
Thousands  of  minds  feel  Theodore  Parker's  influence, 
hundreds  of  writers  and  thinkers  bear  witness  to  his 
power;  our  library  shelves  teem  with  works  upon  his 
writings  and  his  life,  his  name  is  one  long  to  be  remem- 
bered in  our  land.  This  English  tribute  to  his  worth  and 
work  must  find  a  place  in  our  homes  and  libraries  far 
and  near. 

GRACE  A.  OLIVER. 
"  Red  Gables,"  Swamscot. 


THE    STORY 

OF 

THEODORE    PARKER. 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE    OLD    HOME. 

The  village  of  Lexington  lies  ten  miles 
away  from  Boston,  in  the  State  of  Massachu- 
setts, and  near  Lexington  not  many  years 
ago,  stood  a  house  among  the  meadows 
which  was  more  than  a  century  old.  The 
doorsteps  were  worn  by  the  tread  of  many 
feet,  and  old-fashioned  latticed  windows  let 
air  and  sunshine  into' the  low-roofed  rooms. 
Pine  trees  shaded  the  house  from  the  hot 
summer's  sun ;  and  in  the  background  a 
wooded  hill  sheltered  it  from  some  of  the 
winter's  colder  winds.  Close  at  hand  grew 
an  orchard  full  of  peach  trees ;  while  in  front 
of  the  dwelling  lay  a  little  field,  through 
which  a  narrow  path  led  down  to  the  wide 


8  THEODORE  PARKER. 

meadows.  Beyond  the  meadows,  far  as  eye 
could  see,  stretched  a  valley  bounded  by  low 
hills,  and  watered  by  a  merry  brook  which 
flowed  into  the  River  Charles,  on  its  way  to 
the  distant  sea. 

What  a  valley  that  was  !  In  summer,  rich 
with  soft  mosses  and  blue  gentians ;  in 
spring,  with  violets  and  tender  anemones  ;  in 
winter,  white  and  dreary  with  deep  snow- 
drifts; no  living  green  to  be  seen  but  that  of 
the  great  pine  trees,  bent  and  battered  under 
the  stormy  winds. 

In  the  old  house  lived  a  millwright,  with 
his  wife,  his  aged  mother,  and  a  large  family 
of  children.  He  was  a  hard-working,  some- 
what silent  man  ;  but  he  was  known  as  a 
tender  husband  and  father,  a  good  son,  and 
a  faithful  friend.  All  his  neighbors  respected 
him.  He  had  lived  among  them  for  years, 
and  his  honest,  sober  way  of  life  was  so 
unlike  that  of  many  men  who  lived  in  Lexing- 
ton, that  it  was  a  common  saying  in  the 
village,  "John  Parker  has  all  the  manners  of 
the  neighborhood." 

For  this  reason  the  millwright  was  often 
asked  to  settle  disputes  among  the  people  of 


THE  OLD  HOME.  g 

the  village  ;  and  because  he  was  known  to  be 
so  honest  and  trusty,  dying  men  sometimes 
found  comfort  in  leaving  John  Parker  as 
guardian  to  their  orphan  children.  He  was 
a  hard-working  man,  too.  Most  of  the  day 
he  might  be  found  in  the  workshop  at  the 
back  of  the  house  making  wheels,  and 
barrows,  and  tubs.  In  the  evening,  when 
the  day's  work  was  done,  he  used  to  sit  with 
his  family  in  the  old-fashioned  kitchen. 
There  he  read,  sometimes  aloud,  while  his 
wife  and  daughters  sewed  and  knitted,  and 
the  old  grandmother  nodded  in  her  easy- 
chair  by  the  fire.  When  the  clock  struck 
eight,  he  used  to  send  the  young  ones  to 
rest  with  a  wave  of  his  hand  ;  and  before 
very  long  all  the  inmates  of  the  house  were 
fast  asleep  —  for  they  were  quiet  people, 
with  very  simple,  peaceful  ways  of  life. 

Thus  one  day  passed  away  much  like 
another,  and  it  was  very  rarely  that  any  of 
the  family  wandered  out  into  the  world 
beyond  the  blue  "Milton  hills"  that  bounded 
the  valley  where  their  home  lay.  But  books 
gave  them  knowledge,  if  they  gained  none 
from  travel,  and  these  John  Parker  used  to 


lO  THEODORE  PARKER. 

borrow  from  the  village  library.  For  in 
those  clays  Lexington  had  three  public  build- 
ings—  a   library,    a   church,    and  a    school- 

1  house.  Very  few  volumes  made  up  the 
wealth  this  library  owned.  About  twelve 
new  books,  it  is  said,  were  added  each  year ; 
yet  to  men  living  like  the  millwright,  ten 
miles  away  from  the  nearest  town,  even  the 
small  store  of  a  village  library  was  worth 
much. 

A  farm  lay  near  the  old  house,  and  John 
Parker's  "boys"  used  to  work  upon  this 
farm.     It  was  only  a  small    place  and    paid 

1  badly.  The  Parkers  were  poor  people,  so  all 
their  work  must  be  done  by  their  own  hands. 
The  girls  helped  their  mother,  and  she  was 
always  to  be  found  busy  about  the  house, 
unless  some    neighbor  was  ill  or  In  trouble 

land  needed  her  help.  Like  her  husband, 
Mrs.  Parker  was  well  known  and  loved  in  the 
village.  Sometimes  people  wondered  to 
find  her  so  wise  a  woman,  and  her  advice 
always  so  good  ;  for  she  had  little  time  to 
read,  and  she  worked  as  hard  as  the  poorest 
of  her  neighbors,  though  she  was  by  no 
means  a  strong  woman.     The  fact  was,  Mrs, 


THE  OLD  HOME.  I  I 

Parker's  wisdom  did  not  come  from  books. 
She  thought  as  she  went  about  her  work,  and 
her  loving-  heart  and  firm  trust  in  God  made 
clear  to  her  mind  questions  which  were  puz- 
zles to  people  less  faithful  than  herself. 
Her  children  believed,  however,  that  no  one 
knew  so  many  wonderful,  wild  stories  of  the 
Indians,  or  beautiful  old  ballads,  as  their 
mother  did.  Her  memory  was  good,  and 
richly  stored  with  legends  and  tales  she  had 
known  and  loved  when  she  was  a  child  herself. 
So  fables,  hymns,  texts,  and  good  thoughts  of 
her  own  were,  any  and  all  of  them,  ready  to 
help  and  cheer  when  they  were  wanted. 

One  August  day  in  the  year  1810,  a  new 
baby  was  born  in  John  Parker's  house,  and  the 
hearts  of  all  the  ten  children  were  full  of  joy. 
Even  the  youngest  little  sister,  five  years  of 
age,  was  old  enough  to  welcome  the  little ' 
brother  heartily,  and  by  one  consent  he  was 
named  Theodore,  or  the  "gift  of  God."  He 
found  many  nurses  and  playfellows  awaiting 
him,  all  ready  to  watch  over  and  help  him  to 
grow  happy  and  strong.  Long  after  he  could 
run  alone,  Mrs.  Parker  used  to  call  him  her 
baby;  and  every  day,  under  his  mother's  lov- 


12  THEODORE  PARKER. 

ing  influence,  the  boy  learned  without  know- 
ing it  himself,  to  grow  into  good  thoughts 
and  habits,  and  into  a  strong  and  earnest 
faith. 

"  Mrs  Parker,  you  're  spiling  that  boy  of 
yours,"  people  sometimes  used  to  say  as  a 
friendly  warning,  when  they  saw  the  little 
fellow  so  often  sitting  at  his  mother's  feet  or 
running  by  her  side;  "he  never  can  take  care 
of  himself  when  he  grows  up."  But  Mrs.  Par- 
ker knew  better  than  this.  The  knowledofe 
of  his  mother's  love  made  the  boy  sure  of  the 
guardian  care  of  God  about  which  she  told 
him,  and  before  he  was  three  years  old  he 
was  brave  and  fearless. 

In  summer-time  he  used  to  wander  alone 
over  the  farm  and  fields,  making  friends  with 
the  birds  and  flowers.  He  loved  to  lie  on  the 
soft  grass,  watching  the  sunshine  and  the 
shadows  made  by  the  floating  clouds,  and 
drinking  in  the  sweet-scented  breeze.  In 
winter  he  rushed  about  among  the  thick  snow- 
drifts that  lay  heaped  up  by  the  fierce  winds  ; 
or  he  played  in  the  workshop  and  among  the 
cows  and  horses  in  the  barn.  But  always  he 
loved   the   summer   sights   and    sounds  the 


THE  OLD  HOME. 


13 


best.  As  he  grew  older,  father,  mother, 
brothers,  and  sisters  were  at  hand  to  teach 
this  Httle  new  comer,  less  wise  than  them- 
selves, the  meaning-  of  the  sights  he  saw 
about  him  on  the  fair  face  of  earth,  and  help 
him  to  learn  the  book  of  Nature  for  himself. 

One  summer  day,  as  Theodore  was  ram- 
bling about  the  farm  in  the  bright  sunshine, 
he  stopped  by  the  side  of  a  pond  to  look  at 
a  lovely  red  flower  growing  on  a  plant  in  the 
moist  soil  at  the  water's  edge.  Beneath  the 
sheltering  leaves  of  the  plant  lay  a  spotted 
tortoise.  Without  a  thought  of  the  pain  his 
act  would  give,  the  little  fellow  raised  the 
stick  which  he  held  in  his  hand  to  strike  the 
sleeping  tortoise  and  make  it  wake  and  move. 
Suddenly,  with  the  upraised  stick  still  in  the 
air,  he  seemed  to  hear  a  voice  within  him  say 
clearly,  ''  It  Is  wrong." 

Down  dropped  the  stick,  and  away  trotted 
Theodore  back  over  the  fields  to  find  his 
mother,  and  ask  her  whence  came  the  warn- 
ing words  he  had  just  heard.  Mrs.  Parker 
lifted  the  breathless  little  lad  on  her  knee, 
and  listened  to  his  eager  tale.  When  it  was 
ended,  with  her  eyes  wet  with  tears,  she  said  : 


14  THEODORE  PARKER. 

"  That  voice  that  you  have  heard  some  men 
call  conscience,  but  I  prefer  to  call  it  the 
voice  of  God  in  the  soul  of  man.  If  you 
listen  to  it  and  obey  it,  it  will  speak  clearer 
and  clearer,  and  always  guide  you  right ;  but 
if  you  turn  a  deaf  ear  and  disobey,  then  it 
will  fade  out  little  by  little  and  leave  you  all 
in  the  dark.  Your  life  depends  on  your 
heeding  this  little  voice." 

From  that  day,  though  he  was  so  young, 
the  thought  that  he  must  listen  to  God's  voice 
within  him  became  a  part  of  his  daily  life, 
and,  like  the  thought  of  his  mother's  love, 
went  everywhere  with  him.  Like  his  broth- 
ers and  sisters,  he  said  a  hymn  and  prayer 
each  night;  but  the  good  thoughts  did  not 
end  there.  x^U  through  the  day  he  learned 
to  listen  for  the  tiny  whisper  of  conscience 
that  never  failed  to  tell  him  what  was  right 
or  wrong,  and  so  it  came  to  pass  that  people 
knew  if  Theodore  Parker  said  a  thing,  that 
thing  must  be  true. 

\  While  still  quite  a  small  boy,  like  all  the 
busy  people  about  him,  Theodore  learned  to 
work.  His  life,  even  when  a  child,  was  not 
to  be  all  play  in  the  sunny  meadows  and  the 


THE  OLD  HOME.  1 5 

sheltered  barn.  He  carried  into  the  house 
chips  and  broken  branches  for  the  fires,  drove 
the  quiet  cows  to  pasture,  and  carried  grain 
to  the  oxen  in  their  stalls.  He  waited  also 
on  the  old  grandmother  at  her  meals,  for 
this  old  lady  lived  most  of  her  time  in  a  little 
parlor  upstairs ;  and  when  the  older  people 
were  tired  with  their  hard  day's  work,  the 
active  little  grandson  was  always  ready  to  run 
her  errands  and  supply  her  wants. 

A  mile  from  Mr.  Parker's  house,  along  the 
country  road,  stood  a  small  school-house  close 
to  the  village.  When  he  was  six  years  old, 
Theodore  was  sent  to  this  school  every  day 
for  two  years.  After  that  time,  until  he  was 
sixteen,  he  only  went  for  twelve  weeks  in 
each  year.  The  nicest  and  shortest  way  to 
the  school  lay  across  the  fields ;  but  a  brook 
flowed  through  them,  and  the  small  boy  had 
no  good  fairy  ready  to  carry  him  across. 
With  much  labor  he  rolled  some  heavy 
stones  into  the  brook,  and  crossed  safely  thus 
four  times  a  day,  with  no  help  but  that  of  his 
own  hard-working  little  hands  and  feet. 

A  mistress,  known  by  the  name  of  "  Aunt 
Pattie,"  taught  the  little  children  in  the  day 


1 6  THEODORE  PARKER. 

school.  At  first  all  that  happened  there  was 
new  and  astonishing  to  the  young  scholar 
from  the  farm-house.  For  a  week  a  pretty 
little  girl  was  among  the  children.  She  was 
called  Narcissa,  and  Theodore  looked  upon 
her  as  a  dainty  flower,  or  as  one  of  the 
fairies  that  his  mother's  fables  told  about. 
He  could  not  learn  his  lessons  as  he  gazed 
at  her  pretty  face  and  golden  hair,  and  out 
of  school  he  walked  round  her  slowly,  full 
of  wonder,  and  was  ready  to  do  great  deeds 
to  help  her  or  defend  her  from  harm. 

One  morning  as  he  was  crossing  the  fields 
on  his  way  to  school,  he  met  an  old  man 
with  a  long  gray  beard.  The  stranger  turned 
back  to  walk  with  the  little  school-boy,  who 
had  such  a  merry  and,  at  the  same  time, 
such  an  earnest  face ;  and  he  spent  the  time 
they  were  together  in  telling  Theodore  of  the 
clever  man  he  might  become  if  he  tried,  and 
of  all  he  might  do  and  be  in  later  life.  As 
they  neared  the  school-house  the  old  man 
went  away,  and  Theodore  never  saw  him 
again :  but  he  did  not  forget  the  stranger  s 
words.  Again  and  again  they  came  back  to 
the  boy's  memory,  and  the  wish  grew  strong 


THE  OLD  HOME. 


17 


in  him  to  become  what  he  had  been  told  he 
had  the  power  to  be. 

Aunt  Pattie  left  the  school,  and  a  master 
took  her  place.  He  was  a  poor  teacher,  and 
not  at  all  the  kind  of  man  to  gain  any  influ- 
ence over  the  rough  boys  among  his  scholars. 
Even  little  Parker  played  a  prank  one  day, 
which  he  would  never  have  played  if  the 
master  had  been  in  earnest  in  his  work.  A 
quill  popgun  had  been  given  to  Theodore  by 
one  of  his  brothers.  He  took  it  to  school 
one  morning  loaded  with  potato,  and  let  it  off 
with  a  loud  pop,  which  made  both  master 
and  scholars  jump  up  in  wonder.  The  play- 
thing was  burnt  and  the  boy  deserved  to  lose 
it.  But  that  was  the  only  time  when  his  love 
of  fun  led  him  to  give  so  bad  an  example  to 
the  school.  He  kept  his  merry  ways  for  the 
playground,  where  he  became  the  leader  in 
all  the  games. 

Sometimes,  perhaps,  he  was  rough  in  play ; 
but  he  never  bullied  or  teased  a  school-fellow, 
and  always  would  see  justice  and  fair  play 
done  wherever  he  was.  The  boys  liked  to 
follow  such  a  brave,  worthy  leader  in  their 
play ;  and  they  had  no  better  leader  in  their 


l8  THEODORE  PARKER. 

work.  His  home  lessons  were  always  well 
learned,  however  many  tasks  he  had  ;  and, 
with  the  exception  of  a  girl  who  was  as  hard- 
working as  himself,  Theodore  was  always  at 
the  head  of  the  school. 

In  course  of  time  the  school  examination 
was  held.  The  small  school-house  was  filled 
with  scholars  and  their  friends.  The  mill- 
wright, John  Parker,  was  there,  and  all  the 
school  committee.  Little  Theodore  Parker 
was  always  ready  with  an  answer  to  the  ex- 
aminer's questions. 

**  Who  is  that  fine  boy  who  spoke  up  so 
well  ? "  said  one  to  John  Parker,  when  th« 
examination  was  over.  Theodore  heard  the 
question  asked,  and  he  heard  his  father  an- 
swer, with  a  smiling  face:  "That  is  one  of 
my  boys — the  youngest."  It  made  his 
heart  glad  to  see  his  father  look  so  proud 
and  happy ;  and  he  thought  once  more,  as  he 
had  often  thought  before,  that  he  would  try 
with  all  his  might  and  main  as  he  grew  older 
to  be  and  do  the  very  wisest  and  best  he 
could. 


CHAPTER  II. 

THE   farmer's   boy. 

A  COUNTRY  boy  leaving  school  when  he 
was  eight  years  old  !  Theodore  Parker  was 
this  boy.  How  could  he  ever  hope  to 
become  a  great  man  ?  We  shall  see  how  he 
managed  to  carry  out  his  wish,  for  ** where 
there  's  a  will  there  's  a  way." 

In  summer  a  great  deal  of  work  could  be 
done  on  Mr.  Parker's  farm  even  by  a  small 
boy ;  and  sometimes  tJiis  small  boy  tried  to 
do  work  much  too  heavy  for  his  strength. 
One  day  he  was  helping  to  lay  a  new  wall. 
Great,  heavy  stones  were  wanted  to  build 
v/ith,  and  one  after  another  he  lifted  them  and 
carried  them  to  the  place,  never  caring  when 
his  back  ached  and  he  felt  faint  and  tired. 
He  was  brave  and  full  of  spirit ;  but  not 
quite  wise  enough  to  know  when  he  harmed 
himself  by  overtasking  his  strength  ;  and  the 
strain  of  that  day's  work  he  often  felt  in 
future  years. 


20  THEODORE  PARKER. 

One  sunny  day  the  peaches  on  the  orchard 
trees  were  ripe,  and  ready  to  be  gathered. 
Theodore's  father  and  brothers  were  all  busy 
in  the  workshops  and  on  the  farm.  No  one 
could  be  spared  to  take  the  precious  fruit  to 
market  at  Boston,  ten  miles  away.  What 
was  to  be  done  ?  The  fruit  would  spoil,  and 
the  money  they  had  hoped  to  gain  by  its  sale 
would  be  lost.  To  the  surprise  of  all,  up 
sprang  the  little  lad,  always  ready  to  help, 
and  cried  out :  **  Send  me  !  I  will  sell  the 
fruit  at  Boston ! "  And  the  older  people 
knew  they  could  trust  him  to  be  careful  and 
do  the  errand  well. 

Next  morning  the  family  waited  at  the 
farm-yard  gate  to  see  Theodore,  and  a  com- 
panion as  young  as  himself,  set  off  on  their 
way  to  Boston.  Father,  mother,  sisters,  and 
brothers,  —  we  can  fancy  them  standing  there ; 
some  anxious,  some  laughing,  and  all  waving 
their  farewells  as  the  rosy-faced  little  driver 
takes  the  reins,  and  pats  the  horse  that  is  to 
draw  the  cart-full  of  baskets  of  ripe  fruit.  On 
the  journey  to  town  no  one  could  lead  him 
to  play,  or  to  be  careless  about  his  charge ; 
and  at  the  market  no  one  would  try  to  cheat 


THE  FARMER'S  BOr.  21 

the  honest  looking  little  fellow,  who  was  so 
anxious  to  sell  his  fruit  and  so  careful  to  give 
just  weight  to  every  buyer.  He  was  very 
happy  when  he  brought  home  the  well-earned 
money  and  the  empty  cart  at  night.  It  was 
the  best  thing  in  the  world  to  him  to  have 
been  trusted  and  useful. 

As  Theodore  grew  older,  of  course  he  was 
able  to  do  still  more  work  on  the  farm. 
There  was  not  much  variety  in  his  life  each 
day ;  but  great  pleasure  came  to  him  in  little 
ways.  A  piece  of  work  ended  and  well  done 
made  him  happy ;  and  the  sight  of  a  red 
sunset  sky,  and  the  green,  bursting  buds  in 
spring,  made  him  ready  to  sing  with  joy.  He 
liked  to  watch  the  growth  of  a  plant,  or  to 
study  the  ways  of  the  animals  on  the  farm. 
Indeed,  he  made  friends  of  the  cattle,  just  as 
he  had  done  when,  only  a  small  boy,  he  played 
among  them  in  the  barns  in  wintry  weather. 
He  never  thought  them  stupid  because  he 
could  not  read  their  thoughts  ;  and,  by  watch- 
ing them,  he  learned  to  understand  their 
habits  and  ways,  and  even  to  fancy  he  could 
interpret  their  dealings  with  each  other. 
Very  often  the  stories  he  told  of  his  dumb 


THEODORE  PARKER. 


friends  made  the  family  circle  merry ;  but 
never  did  he  fancy  anything  about  them  that 
could  waken  any  thoughts  in  human  minds 
but  those  of  love  and  pity. 

Thus  he  found  many  new  objects  to  inter- 
est him.  Yet  they  were  what  some  people 
would  call  "common  things."  If  he  asked 
the  country  people  about  him  questions  as 
to  the  reason  or  history  of  anything  that  he 
saw,  they  often  answered  :  "  I  dun  no."  But 
such  answers  only  made  him  think  the  more, 
and  so  he  went  on  learning  every  day. 

Each  winter  for  three  months  there  was 
little  farm  work  to  be  done.  Then  Theodore 
could  go  to  school  again.  So  through  fierce 
snow-storms  and  biting  winds  he  crossed 
the  fields  each  day,  and  was  always  the  best 
scholar  in  Lexington  school-house.  When 
spring  came,  and  he  had  to  go  back  to  work, 
the  schoolmaster  offered  to  lend  him  books 
that  he  might  study  whenever  he  could. 
This  schoolmaster's  name  was  White,  and  he 
was  a  very  different  man  from  the  poor 
teacher  who  took  Aunt  Pattie's  place  a  few 
years  before.  Theodore  owed  him  much, 
and  never  forgot  the  debt.     Dearly  he  loved 


THE  FARMER'S  EOT.  23 

the  memory  of  this  friend  in  later  years  ; 
and  It  was  one  of  the  happiest  deeds  of 
his  hfe  then,  to  be  able  to  help  the  orphan 
children  of  the  man  who  had  Influenced  his 
own  boyhood  so  greatly. 

So  In  spring  days  the  farm-boy,  as  he 
guided  the  plow,  said  over  to  himself  the 
lessons  he  had  learned  durlno-  the  winter 
months  at  school ;  and  when  other  workers 
lay  sleeping  during  dinner-time  under  the 
shade  of  the  trees,  he  read  page  after  page 
of  his  schoolmaster's  books  and  learned  new 
lessons.  No  odd  moments  were  wasted. 
Early  In  the  summer  morning,  and  when  the 
work  was  done  at  night,  Theodore  found 
time  to  read,  and  his  father  often  marveled 
at  the  number  of  books  he  knew  all  about, 
of  which  he  could  give  a  clear  account  when 
asked. 

But  there  was  one  book  he  could  not  bor- 
row ;  and  this  he  must  have.  It  was  a  Latin 
dictionary.  In  some  way  he  must  get  to- 
gether money  enough  to  buy  It.  But  he 
would  not  ask  his  hard-working  father  for 
the  money.  What  could  he  do  ?  A  bright 
thought  came  to   his   mind.     Ripe  whortle- 


24  THEODORE  PARKER. 

berries  hung  upon  the  bushes  in  the  fields. 
These  he  might  gather  and  sell,  if  he  could 
only  find  time  to  do  so.  So,  very  early  in 
the  morning  before  the  sun  had  fairly  risen, 
and  while  the  heavy  dew  lay  upon  the 
grass  and  hedgerows,  he  sprang  out  of  bed 
and  was  out  in  the  meadows  while  other 
people  still  lay  resting  after  the  hard  work 
of  the  previous  day. 

In  this  way,  Theodore  gathered  many 
baskets  of  whortleberries  ready  for  Boston 
market,  and  yet  he  was  able  to  begin  his 
day's  work  when  his  fellow-workers  came  out 
on  the  farm.  That  Latin  dictionary,  when  he 
got  it,  was  a  precious  book  to  him.  It  was 
the  first  book  he  had  earned  for  himself,  and 
the  first  book  of  the  large  library  which  he 
afterwards  gathered  round  him  by  degrees. 
Those  hard-working  days  were  very  happy 
days  to  look  back  upon  in  later  life,  and 
while  they  lasted  there  was  no  happier  boy 
in  all  that  country-side  than  the  youngest 
son  of  the  millwright  of   Lexington. 

One  winter  the  young  people  of  the  vil- 
lage planned  together  to  make  the  long,  cold 
evenings  merry  by  dancing.     But  farm-boys 


THE  FARMER'S  BOT.  25 

and  country  girls  did  not  know  how  to  dance, 
and  must  first  be  taught.  The  older  people, 
their  fathers  and  mothers,  glad  to  give  them 
pleasure,  hired  a  teacher  for  them,  and  paid 
him  for  all  the  pupils  he  taught.  Theodore's 
father  was  ready  to  join  with  the  other  farm- 
ers near  Lexington  in  this  plan,  and  Theo- 
dore had  quite  enough  love  of  fun  to  enjoy 
all  the  merry  times  that  would  have  followed 
for  him  if  he  had  learned  to  dance.  But  he 
loved  something  else  more  than  he  loved  fun ; 
and  with  the  money  with  which  he  might  have 
learned  to  dance,  he  asked  his  father  to  send 
him  for  a  few  weeks  to  the  new  Academy 
which  had  been  opened  in  Lexington,  and 
which  was  a  much  better  school  than  the  lit- 
tle village  school  he  had  been  used  to  go  to. 
In  the  Academy  for  those  few  weeks  he 
worked  at  Latin  and  Greek  and  Algebra ;  and 
while  his  young  companions  danced  and 
made  merry  at  night,  he  sat  at  home  with 
his  much-loved  books. 

Now  perhaps  it  may  seem  as  if  Theodore 
Parker  must  have  been  rather  a  dull  play- 
fellow, and  as  if  the  country  boys  and  girls 
about  Lexington  would  not   regret   his   ab- 


26  THEODORE  PARKER. 

sence  from  their  sports.  But  this  was  not 
the  case.  He  was  a  favorite  everywhere. 
His  merry  laugh  made  the  farm-house 
cheerful,  and  lightened  the  cares  of  the 
millwright  and  his  wife.  This  youngest 
boy  was  very  dear  to  all  his  brothers  and 
sisters,  and  one  and  all  they  were  certain 
that  he  would  grow  up  no  common  man. 
But  far  better  than  his  merry  ways,  which 
every  one  liked,  was  the  knowledge  that 
he  might  always  be  trusted,  and  that  still, 
just  as  when  he  was  a  younger  boy,  if 
Theodore  Parker  said  a  thing,  that  thing 
must  be  true. 

Year  after  year  passed  away,  each  one 
spent  by  him  much  as  the  last  had  been.  In 
1828,  he  was  eighteen  years  old.  Then  came 
a  change.  That  winter  he  became  what  was 
called  a  "winter  schoolmaster,"  and  earned 
money  by  teaching  a  school  just  when  there 
was  little  work  to  be  done  on  the  farm. 
He  earned  in  this  way  enough  money  to 
pay  for  his  board,  and  to  hire  a  laborer 
to  do  any  thing  on  the  farm  that  might 
have  fallen  to  his  lot  if  he  had  stayed  at 
home ;  and  while  he  taught  he  still  found 
time  to  read  and,  best  of  all,  to  think. 


THE  FARMER'S  BOY, 


27 


At  last  came  the  time  when  he  must 
settle  what  his  future  work  in  life  as  a 
man  should  be.  Not  that  of  a  millwright 
or  farmer.  So  all  his  friends  were  certain. 
When  a  boy,  he  used  to  think  he  should 
like  best  to  be  a  preacher ;  he  should  like  in 
this  way  to  help  to  make  the  world  a  better 
and  a  wiser  place.  Now  as  a  young  man 
he  still  thought  a  preacher's  work  was  the 
best  kind  of  work.  But  his  friends  said 
sermons  were  dull  and  churches  were  al- 
ways half  empty,  and  though  preachers 
might  be  good  men,  y^  they  seldoca  made 
any  mark  in  the  world. 

So  some  people  proposed  one  plan,  and 
some  another.  Meanwhile,  he  thought  the 
matter  over,  and  as  he  did  the  daily  duties 
that  came  in  his  way,  his  future  prospects 
also  became  clear.  He  had  no  doubt  that 
the  fancy  of  his  boyhood  had  been  no 
mistake.  He  would  become  a  preacher  of 
all  that  seemed  to  him  to  be  true  and 
right;  and,  whatever  other  men  might  do 
or  say,  he  would  try  to  practise  what  he 
preached,  that  his  life  might  help  on  the 
world  as  well  as  his  words.  This  he  would 
do,  and  leave  results  to  God. 


28  THEODORE  PARKER. 

But  now  came  another  puzzle.  Before 
he  could  teach  other  men  he  must  learn 
much  more  himself,  and  his  father  was  too 
poor  to  send  him  to  college  and  pay  the 
college  fees.  Well,  summer  came,  and  in 
the  year  1830  he  was  at  home  again  work- 
ing on  the  farm  as  before,  plowing  and 
digging,  and  mending  wheels  and  wagons, 
reading  at  odd  moments,  and  thinking  as 
he  went  about  his  work. 

One  sunny  day  in  August  he  asked  his 
father  to  give  him  a  holiday  on  the  mor- 
row. Early  in  the  morning,  when  the 
rising  sun  was  just  beginning  to  chase  the 
shadows  from  the  earth,  he  set  out  from 
the  farm.  It  was  a  new  thing  for  Theo- 
dore to  want  a  holiday,  and  every  one 
wondered  what  he  was  going  to  do  with 
it  ;  but  they  knew  that  sooner  or  later  he 
woiikl  tell  them  all  about  it ;  so  they  asked 
no  questions  and  were  content  to  wait. 

While  the  usual  morning's  work  went  on 
at  the  farm,  he  was  walking  along  the 
dusty  road  to  Boston  ;  and  before  the 
great  heat  of  the  day  had  come  he  had 
reached  the  city.     A  little  way  from  Boston 


THE  FARMER'S  EOT.  29 

Stood  a  long  red-brick  building,  with  fields 
before  it,  and  an  avenue  of  trees  leading 
to  the  great  hall-door.  Up  this  avenue 
went  the  tired  holiday-maker ;  and,  knock- 
ing at  the  door  when  it  was  opened  to 
him,  he  entered  in.  More  than  fifty  years 
have  passed  since  Theodore  Parker  took 
his  holiday  on  that  sunny  August  day;  but 
still  the  long  red-brick  building  is  standing 
near  Boston,  and  is  more  famous  in  these 
days  than  it  was  in  his  time.  This  building 
was  Harvard  College.  To  it  young  men 
went,  as  they  do  now,  to  study  and  be  trained 
for  useful  work  in  the  world.  But  first  a  hard 
examination  must  be  passed,  and  then  must 
follow  two  or  three  years  of  study. 

What  made  Theodore  Parker  come  out 
again  later  in  the  day  with  such  a  joyful  look 
upon  his  face  ?  He  had  found  out  the  worth 
of  his  few  years  of  study  in  the  village  school, 
and  of  his  self-teaching  and  thought  in 
the  winter  evenings,  and  behind  the  plow. 
That  morning,  he,  the  farm-boy,  with  his  few 
chances,  had  passed  the  hard  examination  ! 
There  was  the  first  step  in  his  new  path  of 
life;  other  steps  must  follow. 


30  THEODORE  PARKER. 

Back  along  the  dusty  highroad,  in  the 
fading  evening  Hght,  but  with  a  happier 
heart  than  when  he  had  walked  along  it 
in  the  bright  morning  sunshine  to  Boston. 
He  entered  the  farm-house  door,  and  ran 
upstairs  to  the  room  where  his  old  father, 
tired  with  the  day's  work,  had  gone  to  rest. 

"  Father,"  he  said,  "  I  have  passed  the 
examination  and  entered  Harvard  College 
to-day." 

The  old  man  was  amazed.  After  a  little 
time,  he  replied,  sadly  :  — 

*'  But,  Theodore,  I  cannot  afford  to  keep 
you  there." 

'*  No,  father,"  said  the  light-hearted  youth; 
"  I  'm  going  to  stay  at  home  and  read,  and 
still  keep  up  with  my  class." 

So  Theodore  Parker's  holiday  ended.  Be- 
fore long,  hard  work  and  brave  days  began 
for  him  in  a  new  life. 


CHAPTER    III. 

UNKNOWN    WORKERS. 

It  was  no  easy  course  that  Theodore  had 
planned  for  himself.  He  had  only  passed 
the  first  college  examination  so  far  ;  others 
would  follow,  and  as  he  had  no  money  he 
meant  to  read  at  home  and  make  ready  for 
them.  In  the  end  must  come  some  col- 
lege fees.  How  was  he  to  find  money  to 
pay  them  ?  At  first  he  worked  on  the 
farm  just  as  he  had  been  used  to  do  and 
read  at  all  the  odd  moments  he  could  find  ; 
but  these  odd  moments  were  rare,  and  now 
that  he  knew  what  the  work  and  his  future 
life  must  be,  he  must  press  on. 

In  twelve  months'  time  he  agreed  to  be- 
come a  teacher  in  a  Boston  school.  In 
such  a  life  he  would  have  more  chance  to 
study  than  on  the  farm,  and  some  of  the 
money  he  earned  could  go  to  pay  a  laborer 
in  his  place.  The  day  came  when  he  must 
leave  the  old  home  where  he  had  lived  for 


32  THEODORE  PARKER. 

twenty-one  years.  How  dear  every  place  was 
to  him !  Each  nook  in  the  fields  was  filled 
with  happy  memories,  and  he  loved  every 
room  in  the  old  house.  Now  he  must  leave  it 
all,  and  his  heart  clung  fondly  to  the  friends 
with  whom  he  had  so  far  spent  his  life. 

When  the  spring  buds  were  bursting  into 
leaf  and  flower,  Theodore  said  good-bye  to 
all  and  went  out  into  the  world.  He  was 
only  an  awkward  looking  country  lad,  in 
rough  farming  garments,  and  he  set  out  for 
his  city  life  with  a  few  more  clothes  and 
two  or  three  books  in  one  wooden  trunk. 
There  was  nothing  wonderful  in  his  look 
or  manner:  no  promise  of  future  greatness 
to  be  seen  in  him;  but  he  left  heavy, 
aching  hearts  behind,  for  father,  mother, 
brothers,  and  sisters  all  knew  what  he  had 
been  to  them  in  his  own  home.  It  was  a 
hard  parting,  but  it  must  take  place,  and 
all  knew  it  was  for  the  best.  So  they 
watched  him  down*  the  long  country  road, 
as  they  had  watched  him  when  a  little  lad 
he  went  to  sell  the  peaches  in  Boston 
market ;  and  at  length  the  winding  hedge- 
rows hid  him  from  their  straining  eyes. 


UNKNOWN  WORKERS.  33 

No  bright  life  awaited  him  at  Boston.  He 
loved  work,  and  truly  he  found  enough  there, 
with  six  hours'  teaching  and  ten  or  twelve 
hours'  study  every  day.  But  sad  longings 
for  home  and  friends  used  to  visit  him  in  his 
lonely  lodging,  and  he  pined  in  his  new  life 
for  some  one  to  love  and  care  for.  It  seemed 
to  him  that  more  than  anything  else  he  cared 
for  love  ;  not  so  much  to  be  loved,  as  for 
some  object  on  which  his  great,  tender  heart 
could  pour  itself  forth.  He  had  had  so  many 
dear  ones  at  home,  and  in  this  great  city  of 
Boston  he  was  alone  among  strangers.  In 
those  days  he  took  little  sleep  and  seldom 
any  exercise.  Often  he  did  not  himself 
know  the  lessons  he  had  to  teach ;  and 
through  the  quiet  hours  of  the  night  he  kept 
himself  awake  to  study,  and  he  wanted  no 
rest  from  his  toil.  One  aim  was  always 
before  him  —  to  prepare  for  his  future  work. 

On  Sundays  he  went  to  a  crowded  church 
in  the  city.  How  different  from  the  quiet 
little  village  church  at  home,  to  which  he 
used  to  walk  throucrh  the  meadows  with  dear 
friends  and  old  companions.  In  this  city 
church  he  heard  hard  doctrines  preached  — 


34  THEODORE  PARKER. 

threats  of  an  angry  judge,  and  of  future 
misery,  if  men  did  not  believe  an  appointed 
creed.  To  himself  he  said,  that  if  ever  he 
became  a  preacher  people  should  hear  from 
him  of  a  tender  Father,  and  of  the  need 
for  a  holy,  loving  life,  instead  of  belief  in  a 
creed. 

Day  after  day  he  went  on  working  bravely 
until  months  passed,  and  still  he  saw  no 
prospect  beyond  his  daily  teaching  in  the 
school,  and  knew  that  the  little  money  he 
earned  in  this  way  would  never  take  him  to 
college.  But  God  helps  those  who  help 
themselves,  and  suddenly  a  new  way  opened 
out  to  him.  Not  many  miles  from  Boston 
lies  the  village  of  Watertown.  A  school  was 
needed  there,  and  Theodore  was  asked  to 
open  one  there  himself.  He  gladly  agreed 
to  do  so,  and  before  long  went  to  Watertown 
to  make  ready. 

A  short  way  from  the  village  of  Watertown 
stood  an  old  disused  bake-house.  Before  its 
door  lay  broad  green  fields,  and  round  about 
its  walls  sheltering  trees  waved  their  branches 
in  the  gentle  breezes,  and  made  a  home  for 
many  a  bird  whose  songs  filled  the  old  empty 


UNKNOWN  WORKERS.  35 

house  with  music.  Rather  a  tumble-down 
building  it  was ;  still,  there  Theodore  meant 
to  open  his  school ;  so  he  hired  it,  and  then 
set  to  work  to  saw  planks  and  join  them 
together  for  forms  and  desks.  This  done, 
after  many  days'  work,  he  swept  out  the 
room  and  lighted  the  fire  and  began  his 
school  with  two  scholars.  But  he  put  his 
whole  heart  into  this  work  as  into  all  he  did, 
and  boys  and  girls  could  not  help  learning 
when  he  was  their  teacher.  Before  long  he 
had  fifty-four  children  in  his  school. 

Now  he  had  no  longer  a  sad  longing  for 
some  one  to  love  and  care  for.  Poor  as  he 
was,  he  could  help  those  who  were  poorer 
than  himself,  and  he  never  turned  a  child 
from  his  school-door  because  no  fee  was 
brought.  He  even  searched  the  village  for 
children  who  were  too  poor  to  pay.  He 
taught  and  helped  them  all  alike,  and  they 
learned  to  love  him  so  heartily  that  their 
happiest  hours  were  those  they  spent  with 
him.  Sometimes  he  took  them  long  rambles 
in  the  fields  and  woods,  and  then  the  best 
lessons  they  learned  were  not  from  printed 
pages  ;  for  he  found  for  them  "  sermons  in 


36  THEODORE  PARKER. 

Stones,  and  books  in  the  running  brooks." 
Above  all,  he  taught  them  more  by  what  he 
was  himself  than  by  his  words.  Boys  and 
girls  who  knew  Theodore  Parker  grew  true 
and  earnest,  because  they  felt  him  to  be  so, 
and  longed  to  be  like  him.  Even  idle  schol- 
ars laid  aside  their  idleness,  and  made  no 
complaints  of  the  hard  tasks  he  asked  from 
them,  lest  they  should  disappoint  the  hopes  he 
had  formed  of  them.  Now  all  this  time,  while 
he  was  training  his  young  scholars,  he  himself 
was  growing.  The  story  of  his  life  would  be  of 
little  use  to  us  if  it  told  us  of  a  man  who  had 
no  battles  to  fight  and  no  mistakes  to  learn 
from.  The  grand  thing  about  him  was  that 
he  was  always  in  earnest  and  always  tried  to 
do  the  duty  that  lay  nearest  and  seemed  the 
clearest.  Therefore  clearer  and  clearer  did 
the  light  shine  upon  his  duties  as  the  years 
went  on,  and  nobler  and  better  grew  his  life. 
One  day  a  colored  girl  came  to  the  school- 
house  door  and  asked  to  be  taught.  Theo- 
dore cared  nothing  for  outside  appearance : 
the  color  of  the  skin,  or  the  fit  of  the  clothes, 
mattered  not  to  him.  He  saw  this  girl  had 
the  will  to  learn  and  he  took  her  in  at  once. 


UNKNOWN  WORKERS.  37 

Next  morning  he  was  surprised  to  hear  from 
many  parents  of  his  scholars  that  their 
children  must  leave  his  school  if  the  black 
girl  were  not  sent  away  at  once. 

A  few  years  later,  Theodore  Parker  would 
have  seen  a  great  principle  here  to  which  he 
must  be  true.  He  would  have  kept  and 
taught  the  colored  girl,  even  though  he  had 
ruined  his  school.  Now  in  his  earnestness 
he  only  saw  the  work  to  which  he  had  given 
himself  up.  He  must  make  a  good  school- 
master, and  he  must  earn  money  to  take  him 
to  college  in  the  future.  Sorrowfully  he 
sent  the  child  away.  In  a  few  years  he  was 
ready  to  give  up  home  and  life  to  defend  one 
such  colored  girl  as  had  come  to  his  school- 
door  In  Watertown.  This  is  one  instance  of 
the  way  in  which  this  American  farmer's  boy 
grew  wiser.  He  always  tried  to  do  what  he 
thought  right ;  but,  by  degrees,  fresh  light 
came  to  him,  and  he  saw  new  duties  to  be 
done  and  wider  ways  of  helping  the  world 
than  he  had  seen  before. 

Now  just  at  this  time  there  came  to  Boston 
an  unknown  youth,  a  stranger  such  as  Theo- 
dore himself  had  been,  and  something  of  his 


38  THEODORE  PARKER, 

Story  must  be  told,  for,  in  course  of  time, 
his  influence  acted  on  Theodore  Parker,  and 
helped  to  lead  him  into  fresh  paths  of  life 
and  work. 

Twenty-five  years  before,  there  had  lived 
in  the  little  town  of  Newburyport  a  brave 
sea-captain  named  Garrison,  with  his  wife. 
Newburyport  was  built  beside  the  sea-coast, 
and  the  great  waves  of  the  Atlantic  Ocean 
came  dashing  up  in  spray  and  foam  upon 
the  cliffs,  and  the  stormy  winds  roared  round 
the  town  when  the  captain's  boat  was  far 
away  out  at  sea.  But  the  captain's  wife 
was  as  brave  as  himself.  She  was  a  good 
woman,  and  her  faith  was  strong.  So  when 
the  storms  were  fierce  she  only  prayed  the 
more,  and  knew  that  all  was  right. 

Now  these  people  had  one  only  boy,  and 
being  very  poor  they  put  him  to  a  trade 
when  he  was  so  little  that  he  could  hardly 
hold  the  tools  he  had  to  use.  At  first  he 
was  with  a  shoemaker.  But  in  the  end  they 
sent  him  to  a  printer,  and  he  learned  to  set 
type,  and  the  printer  s  office  served  him  both 
for  school  and  college  that  richer  boys  attend. 
By-and-by  he  began  to  write  articles  for  the 


UNKNOWN  WORKERS.  39 

paper  his  master  published,  and  surprised 
him  by  the  knowledge  shown  by  a  boy  thus 
self-taught. 

A  few  years  passed  and  the  boy  became 
a  youth.  Both  his  parents  died.  Then,  in  a 
town  among  the  distant  ''  Green  Mountains," 
in  Vermont,  he  set  on  foot  a  paper  of  his 
own.  For  this  paper  he  had  always  one  aim 
in  view.  Through  its  means  he  wanted  to 
spread  a  love  of  temperance  among  the 
people  who  read  it,  for  he  had  found  out 
what  sad  homes  and  ruined  lives  a  love  of 
drink  caused  among  men.  So  this  was  the 
purpose  of  his  life  at  that  time,  and  he 
worked  for  it  with  all  his  might. 

Now  a  strange  looking  old  man  used  to 
travel  on  foot  at  that  time  through  Vermont 
and  other  States  with  a  heavy  pack  of 
papers  on  his  back,  day  after  day  selling 
copies  of  the  paper  which  he  published 
himself  by  the  help  of  money  collected  as 
he  walked.  But  this  paper  had  a  different 
aim  from  that  of  Garrison.  Long  years 
ago,  when  a  boy,  he  had  been  shocked  by 
the  dreadful  sight  of  slaves  torn  from  their 
friends  and  driven  in  chains  to   be  sold   to 


40  THEODORE  PARKER. 

new  slavery  down  the  River  Ohio.  Ben- 
jamin Lundy,  as  the  boy  was  called,  never 
afterwards  forgot  this  first  sight  of  the  cruel- 
ties of  slavery.  As  he  grew  older  he  learned 
more  about  it,  and  he  vowed  to  spend  his 
life  in  doing  all  he  could  to  make  America 
a  free  country. 

So  here  were  two  men,  a  young  man  and 
an  old  one,  each  trying  to  mend  the  world  in 
different  ways  by  the  papers  that  they  wrote. 
Before  long  these  two  men  were  to  meet 
and  join  together  in  a  common  cause. 
For  Benjamin  Lundy  heard  one  day  of  young 
Garrison  working  so  hard  with  his  printing- 
press  among  the  Green  Mountains  of  Ver- 
mont; and  he  set  off  on  a  long  tramp  over 
hill  and  dale,  with  his  pack  on  his  back,  to 
beg  the  youth  to  help  him  to  fight  against 
the  great  crime  of  slavery  which  filled  their 
native  land  with  wrong. 

The  young  man  agreed  to  the  old  man's 
wish.  He  left  the  old  cause  and  took  up  the 
new  one;  and  truly  in  great  earnest  was 
William  Lloyd  Garrison.  The  spirit  of  his 
father,  the  brave  old  sea-captain,  filled  him, 
and  right  into  the  heart  of  the  Slave  States 


UNKNOWN  WORKERS. 


41 


he  went,  and  printed  and  published  his  anti- 
slavery  paper.  Then,  it  is  said,  he  wakened 
the  land  with  his  bold  words  and  his  warning 
cry  that  slavery  must  end  at  once.  Thought- 
less people  could  no  longer  help  asking  them- 
selves whether  slavery  were  right  or  wrong. 
He  wakened  the  slave-owners,  too,  who  on 
some  pretext  seized  him  and  threw  him  into 
prison  for  his  brave,  outspoken  words. 

For  weeks  Garrison  lay  in  prison.  At 
length  a  New  York  merchant  paid  his  fine 
and  set  him  free.  Then,  knowing  there  was 
no  chance  to  be  heard  in  the  Slave  States  any 
more,  he  went  to  Boston,  just  about  the  time 
when  Theodore  Parker  left  his  father's  house 
to  begin  his  work  in  the  world.  In  a  small 
gloomy  garret,  with  only  a  small  negro  boy 
to  help  him,  living  on  bread  and  water,  and 
unknown  in  Boston,  Garrison  set  on  foot  a 
new  paper  called  the  Liberator^  which  was  to 
make  the  Northern  people,  who  bought  and 
spun  the  slave-grown  cotton,  learn  that  to 
keep  slaves  was  a  crime.  Again  and  again 
he  said  to  himself:  "I  am  in  earnest.  I  will 
not  retreat  an  inch      I  will  be  heard." 

Was    not    this    a    man    after     Theodore 


42  THEODORE  PARKER. 

Parker's  own  heart  ?  Both  were  living 
heartily  for  the  duty  nearest  to  them,  and 
the  work  that  must  be  done.  But  as  yet 
they  had  not  met. 

Meanwhile,  there  lived  in  Watertown  a 
minister  named  Dr.  Francis.  The  Charles 
River  flowed  by  his  pretty  home,  and  a 
garden  gay  with  flowers  lay  round  the 
house.  Dr.  Francis  was  a  lover  of  books, 
and  his  wife  was  a  lover  of  flowers,  and  they 
were  never  at  ease  and  happy  unless  they 
were  on  the  watch  to  find  some  one  whom 
they  could  .help.  They  heard  of  the  hard- 
working young  schoolmaster,  Theodore 
Parker,  who  wanted  to  go  to  college,  and 
they  asked  him  to  their  house.  Fresh  in- 
terests now  opened  out  to  him.  He  went 
to  Dr.  Francis's  church,  and  taught  in  his 
Sunday  School,  and  soon  a  bright  hope 
dawned  upon  him.  For  he  learned  to  know 
and  love  a  young  girl  named  Lydia  Cabot, 
who  afterwards  became  his  wife.  Often  he 
gathered  wild  flowers  for  her  by  the  river's 
bank,  and  as  he  walked  alone,  dreams 
mingled  with  the  music  of  the  rushing 
waters  of  a  home  that  they  might  some 
time   make  together. 


UNKNOWN  WORKERS. 


43 


It  was  a  joyful  day  when  he  first  found 
that  Lydia  cared  for  him,  and  he  went  back 
to  the  old  farm-house  at  Lexington  to  tell 
his  friends  there  his  good  news.  Life  began 
to  seem  very  rich  to  him,  for  his  new  love 
brightened  all  his  works  and  ways.  Still 
he  worked  as  hard  as  ever  to  prepare  for 
the  college  examination,  and  often  the  early 
morning  light  broke  and  found  him  still 
reading,  as  he  had  read  through  the  long 
"sleepless  night. 

There  is  a  story  told  of  a  countryman  far 
away  in  the  Black  Forest,  who  once  spent 
many  years  in  carving  a  grand  statue  out  of 
hard  pine  wood.  Many  hindrances  came  in 
his  way,  knots  in  the  wood  and  disappoint- 
ments in  his  tools.  But  at  last  the  work  was 
done,  and  he  looked  upon  a  perfect  image 
before  he  died.  This  story  tells  of  another 
kind  of  carver  :  of  a  boy  who  vowed  to  him- 
self to  carve  out  a  noble  character  before 
he  died.  Like  a  block  of  pine  wood  lay  his 
life  before  him,  and  we  have  seen  him  carve 
some  deep,  hard  strokes  already.  We  shall 
see  what  kind  of  a  character  he  had  carved 
out  for  himself  by  the  time  death  came. 


CHAPTER    IV. 

BARNSTABLE    AND    WEST    ROXBURY. 

One  morning  there  was  great  excitement 
among  the  children  in  Theodore  Parker's 
school-house.  Heads  were  bent  together  over 
the  desks,  and  never  before  had  there  been 
low  whispers  over  the  books.  Something 
was  plainly  the  matter,  and  it  was  plain,  also, 
that  the  young  master  saw  all  that  went  on, 
and  took  no  notice.  The  morning  wore 
away  and  the  school  broke  up.  Then  the 
mystery  was  explained.  Because  it  was  the 
last  day  on  which  he  should  teach  his 
school,  the  children  had  got  ready  a  part- 
ing present  to  give  him, —  a  silver  cup, — 
and  the  eldest  boy  was  to  present  it  and  to 
act  as  spokesman  for  the  rest.  For  two 
years  Theodore  had  been  their  master,  and 
it  was  no  easy  matter  for  any  of  them  to  say 
good-bye  to  him  or  for  him  to  say  good-bye 
to  them.  In  fact,  when  the  great  moment 
came,    and    the    silver    cup  was  given,  and 


BARNSTABLE  AND  WEST  ROXBURT.       45 

the  little  speech  made,  master  and  children 
alike  burst  into  tears. 

At  length  the  time  had  come  when  he  had 
earned  enough  money,  thanks  to  the  hard 
life  and  ceaseless  work,  to  enter  Harvard 
College.  There  he  could  still  live  on  the 
plainest  food,  and  still  go  on  teaching  until 
he  had  passed  the  last  examination  and  was 
ready  for  his  new  work  in  life.  So,  for  two 
years  and  three  months,  he  went  to  Harvard, 
and  quickly  did  the  time  pass  away.  Well 
might  his  friends  be  proud  of  the  hard- 
working student,  who  had  made  his  own  way 
to  college,  and  now  took  such  a  high  place 
among  his  college  companions.  He  was  a 
wonder  to  many  who  saw  him  living  on  poor 
food  and  giving  himself  no  holidays  from  the 
tasks  he  undertook.  In  the  hottest  sum- 
mer day  no  tempting  country  walk  won  him 
from  his  books,  and  when  other  men  amused 
themselves,  he  gave  lessons  to  help  tc  pay 
his  college  fees,  or  sometimes  went  to  the 
great  prison  near  Boston  to  teach  the  prison- 
ers confined  within  its  walls. 

Yet  he  was  always  ready  at  odd  times 
for  a  talk  with  other  students,  and  his  merry 


46  THEODORE  PARKER. 

laugh  and  genial  ways  made  him  a  favorite 
with  every  one.  At  Harvard  the  students 
used  to  meet  together  for  debates.  Then 
they  chose  a  subject,  and  made  speeches 
upon  it.  How  was  it,  they  wondered,  that 
the  new  student,  Theodore  Parker,  who  at 
first  seemed  so  shy,  was  soon  the  best 
scholar  of  them  all  ?  The  reason  was  that 
he  never  stopped  to  think,  as  some  of  the 
others  did,  which  argument  would  sound 
best  or  be  most  liked.  He  spoke  always 
straight  out  of  his  heart  just  what  he  knew 
was  true  and  right.  Therefore  his  words  car- 
ried weight  with  them.  In  everything  he 
said  and  did,  he  never  forgot  the  lesson 
learned  so  many  years  before  by  the  pond 
where  the  sleeping  tortoise  lay,  and  always 
he  listened  for  the  gentle  whisper  of  con- 
V  science  as  his  guide. 

When  the  time  came  for  him  to  leave 
Harvard,  and  he  was  ready  for  new  work, 
he  only  waited  a  call  to  some  church  to  be 
its  preacher.  Meanwhile,  as  he  waited,  he 
took  a  short  holiday  among  his  friends. 
One  Sunday  he  preached  for  the  first  time 
in  the  village  church  near  his  old  home  at 


BARNSTABLE  AND  WEST  ROXBURT.       47 

Lexington.  The  country  people  who  had 
known  him  as  a  boy,  gathered  together  to 
listen  to  him,  and  his  heart  was  glad  when 
he  met  his  old  companions  again.  They 
were  all  proud  of  his  success,  and  to  know 
that  his  work  so  far  had  ended  well.  To 
some  of  them  it  seemed  that  now  he  had 
left  college  his  hardest  days  were  over.  To 
himself,  however,  it  seemed  that  life's  work 
was  only  beginning,  and  to  himself  he  said: 
"  Blessed  be  these  iron  times  in  which  there 
is  something  for  a  man  to  do ;  something  for 
a  man  to  think.  I  have  sterner  deeds  to  do ; 
greater  danger  to  bear.  I  must  be  about  my 
work."  And  so,  in  the  midst  of  holiday 
time,  while  enjoying  friends  and  sunshine 
and  flowers,  he  still  longed  for  work,  and 
often  thought,  **  I  must  have  something  to 
do.     I  must  be  about  new  work." 

On  the  sea-coast  of  the  State  of  Massachu- 
setts, a  small  village  called  Barnstable  was 
growing  up  at  this  time.  The  village  road 
wound  among  little  wooden  houses  brightly 
painted  green,  red,  yellow,  and  white. 
Behind  the  village  rose  a  steep,  rough  hill, 
and  in  front  lay  the  wide  bay  on  which  the 


48  THEODORE  PARKER, 

hardy  fishermen  sailed  out  in  all  weathers  to 
make  a  living  for  their  families.  In  1836, 
just  when  Theodore  was  leaving  Harvard, 
the  people  of  Barnstable  wanted  a  minister, 
and  they  asked  him  to  come  and  fill  their 
pulpit  for  a  month. 

He  agreed  to  do  so,  and  one  evening 
reached  the  bright  looking  village  and  looked 
over  the  bay  far  out  towards  the  distant, 
shining  sea.  He  liked  the  place  at  once,  but 
it  seemed  to  him  that  the  fishing-people  were 
too  reserved  and  shy.  They  had  not  much 
to  say  to  him,  and  even  on  Sundays  in  the 
little  church  he  fancied  that  their  hymns  and 
prayers  were  cold  and  dull.  But,  by  degrees, 
he  grew  more  used  to  the  ways  of  the  people 
of  Barnstable,  and  they  learned  to  trust  him 
and  to  feel  at  home  with  him.  First  of  all, 
he  made  friends,  as  in  old  times,  of  the  ani- 
mals about  the  place.  He  liked  to  climb  the 
hill,  too,  and  to  wander  among  the  fields 
Then  one  after  another  he  found  friends 
among  the  men  and  women  in  their  village 
homes,  and  learned  to  honor  them  for  their 
patience  in  their  trouble,  and  for  their  faith- 
ful, hard-working  lives. 


BARNS  TABLE  AND  WES  T  R  OXB  UR  T.      49 

One  day  news  came  to  Barnstable  that  a 
strange  sight  was  to  be  seen  in  the  woods 
across  the  bay.  Theodore  Parker,  with  one 
of  his  friends,  set  sail  in  a  small  vessel  to 
make  a  visit  to  the  woods.  His  boat  was 
cast  upon  a  sand  bank  near  the  shore  to 
which  it  was  bound.  Leaving  it  there,  the 
two  men  made  their  way  up  to  the  woods, 
which  gave  a  cool  and  pleasant  shadow  from 
the  heat  and  the  midday  sun.  Quiet  and 
restful  places  did  they  look  from  the  shore. 
But  as  the  travelers  from  Barnstable  came 
nearer  to  them  the  sound  of  many  voices 
reached  them  from  among  the  trees;  and 
there  when  the  underwood  was  passed,  they 
reached  a  grassy  glade  where  sixteen  large 
tents  were  pitched  round  a  rough,  hastily 
built  pulpit.  Behind  the  tents  horses  and 
oxen  were  tied  to  the  trunks  of  trees,  and 
strange  looking  carts  and  carriages  were  to 
be  seen,  while  the  whole  glade  was  filled 
with  people  who  had  met  together  to  hold 
a  "  camp  meeting,"  as  a  church  held  in  the 
open  air  was  called. 

Theodore  and  his  friend  listened  as  one 
preacher  after  another  gave  a  sermon  to  the 


50  THEODORE  PARKER, 

crowd.  Loud  hymns  were  sung,  and  through 
the  long  prayers  the  people  shouted  and 
wept,  and  even  laughed  in  their  excitement, 
and  hoped  to  hear  the  "  still,  small  voice  of 
God "  in  answer  to  their  noisy  calls.  Theo- 
dore thought  of  his  quiet  fishing-people  at 
Barnstable,  whom  he  had  once  fancied  cold 
and  dull.  He  pictured  them  doing  their 
duty  fearlessly  on  the  rough  sea,  and  finding 
the  Lord  in  their  work  at  home,  and  in  their 
humble  prayers  and  hymns.  Their  worship 
seemed  to  him  much  holier  than  that  of  this 
''multitude  that  kept  holiday,"  and  he  thought 
much  about  them  as  he  walked  home  to 
Barnstable  along  the  lonely  road  for  thirty 
miles  under  the  quiet   starlit   sky. 

Quickly  the  days  passed  by,  and  the  month 
he  was  to  spend  at  Barnstable  came  to  an 
end.  The  fishermen  would  gladly  have  kept 
their  new  preacher  with  them  always;  but 
though  he  had  made  many  friends  among 
them,  Barnstable  was  not  the  kind  of  place 
in  which  he  wished  to  spend  his  life.  So  he 
took  leave  of  the  people  and  wandered  forth 
again,  preaching  first  in  one  place,  then  in 
another,  and  longing  for  some  resting-place 
and  for  some  settled  work. 


BARNSTABLE  AND  WEST  ROXBURT.       5  I 

In  the  longest  day  of  1837,  he  found  both 
resting-place  and  work  at  West  Roxbury,  a 
village  near  Boston.  Then  he  married  Lydia 
Cabot,  and  together  they  began  the  home 
they  had  planned  to  make.  West  Roxbury 
was  a  pretty  country  place,  and  the  minister's 
house  lay  in  a  pleasant  garden,  bright  with 
flowers  and  vines,  and  sheltered  by  well- 
grown  trees.  Close  to  the  garden  ran  the 
long  village  road,  with  the  homes  of  the 
poor  people  among  whom  the  new  minister's 
work  would  lie.  But  very  near,  also,  were 
the  houses  and  gardens  of  people  who  were 
somewhat  better  off  in  this  world's  goods. 
They,  too,  became  friends  of  Theodore  Parker 
and  his  wife,  and  with  them  were  spent  many 
happy  hours,  either  in  their  well-ordered 
homes  or  in  the  sunny  meadows  that  lay 
round  West  Roxbury. 

Theodore  Parker  had  a  great  love  for  little 
children.  Tiny  feet  soon  learned  to  make 
their  way  from  his  neighbors'  houses  to  his 
own ;  tiny  fingers  often  tapped  at  his  study- 
door,  and  baby  voices  called  out  ''  Parkie, 
Parkie,"  at  the  key-hole,  and  made  music  in 
his  cjuiet  home.     He  had  pet  names  for  the 


52  THEODORE  PARKER. 

little  visitors  —  such  as  "mites  o'  Teants*" 
and  "  pets  o'  blossom."  Stores  of  playthings, 
carts  and  dolls  and  wooden  horses,  were  kept 
for  them  to  play  with  near  his  writing-table. 
Even  on  his  journeys  he  carried  little  presents 
in  his  pockets  to  charm  and  soothe  any  cross 
little  traveler  in  a  railway  carriage  or  steamer. 
In  a  year  or  two  after  their  marriage  he  and 
his  wife  took  into  their  home  as  their  adopted 
child  a  little  orphan  boy  named  Charles 
Cabot.  By  all  these  means  he  tried  to  make 
up  for  the  want  of  children  in  his  own  happy 
home,  and  as  months  passed  by  the  love  of 
the  husband  and  wife  grew  daily  stronger 
and  more  deep. 

But  before  this  life  at  West  Roxbury  began 
dear  old  ties  were  broken.  There  were 
empty  places  in  the  farm-house  at  Lexington, 
and  it  was  only  on  rare  occasions  that  Theo- 
dore could  bear  to  speak  of  the  old  days  at 
home,  and  of  the  dear  ones  whom  he  should 
see  no  more  on  earth. 

Sometimes  the  fear  came  to  him  that  in 
this  quiet  village  life  he  was  not  using  all  his 
powers.  Really,  however,  this  time,  when 
he  seemed  to  have  few  chances  for  work  and 


BARNSTABLE  AND  WEST  BOXBURT.       53 

Influence,  was  rich  in  preparation  for  the 
future.  He  read  books  of  all  sorts,  and 
thought  much ;  and  he  learned  lessons  of 
wisdom  from  the  lives  of  the  ignorant  country 
people  about  him.  Just  opposite  his  house, 
across  the  village  street,  lived  a  poor  farm 
laborer,  with  his  wife  and  five  young  children. 
This  man  had  hard  work  to  earn  money  for 
his  rent,  and  for  the  needful  food  and  clothes 
for  his  family,  and  while  he  worked  on  the 
farm  his  wife  toiled  at  home  all  day.  Some 
new  people  named  Wallace  came  to  live  in 
the  village.  No  one  knew  anything  about 
them  ;  yet  they  sadly  needed  friends ;  for 
the  mother  was  dying  of  consumption,  and 
was  too  weak  to  take  care  of  her  two  little 
children,  while  the  father  was  away  at  his 
work  all  day.  It  was  not  long  before  Theo- 
dore's opposite  neighbors  heard  of  these  new 
comers.  Then  the  busy  mother  of  the  five 
children  left  her  own  home  and  work  to  see 
how  she  could  help  in  so  sad  a  case.  She 
soon  saw  what  was  most  wanted,  and  bringing 
the  baby  to  her  own  crowded  home,  lest  the 
sick  woman  should  be  disturbed  by  its  cries, 
she  went  back  again  to  wash  the  clothes  and 


54 


THEODORE  PARKER. 


do  the  work  of  the  neglected  house.  Then, 
night  after  night,  when  her  own  children  were 
asleep,  she  sat  up  to  nurse  the  stranger  who 
had  no  friends  to  look  to  her  in  her  own 
home. 

Theodore  Parker  saw  all  this  done.  He 
saw,  too,  how  another  well-meaning  person 
in  the  village,  who  cared  more  for  the  creed 
she  held  than  for  a  loving  life,  went  also  to 
the  poor  home  in  this  time  of  trouble.  But 
this  second  visitor  only  frightened  the  poor, 
weak  woman  with  the  views  she  herself  held, 
and  drove  sleep  from  her  with  tales  of  a 
belief  which  her  ignorant  mind  failed  to 
understand.  Most  clear  it  was  to  Theodore 
that  true  religion  is  shown  best  by  gentle, 
tender  deeds.  He  thought  of  the  noisy 
camp  meeting  in  the  woods,  and  of  the  quiet 
worship  of  the  duty-loving  fishermen  of 
Barnstable.  He  remembered,  too,  the  city 
church  in  Boston,  where  he  had  heard  the 
hard,  dreary  creeds  preached,  and  he  taught 
his  people  of  West  Roxbury  that  "  God's 
Church  is  to  be  found  wherever  his  children 
reach  out  their  loving  hands  by  help  and 
service  to  each  other." 


BARNS  TABLE  A  ND  WEST  R  OXB  URT.       55 

So  the  peaceful  days  passed  by,  spent  amid 
books  and  thoughts  and  experiences  of  life. 
By-and-by  the  narrow  village  path  thus  faith- 
fully trodden  led  Theodore  Parker  out  into 
the  broad  field  of  the  world.  In  this  way, 
step  by  step,  the  best  and  bravest  lives  are 
built  up. 


CHAPTER  V. 

SEEKERS    OF   THE    TRUTH. 

The  village  church  in  which  Theodore 
preached  each  Sunday  was  only  a  small 
building,  and  he  had  few  hearers.  On 
sunny  mornings  the  shadows  of  the  trees 
outside  were  cast  through  the  windows  on 
the  walls  within,  and  songs  of  birds  came 
in  through  the  open  doorway,  and  mingled 
with  the  hymns  the  people  sang.  For  the 
most  part  the  men  and  women  who  came  to 
worship  there  were  simple  country  people. 
They  walked  through  the  lanes  from  their 
cottages  and  farms,  glad  to  listen  to  simple 
sermons  about  their  every-day  lives.  For 
in  Theodore  Parker's  eyes  even  the  com- 
monest work  was  noble.  The  milking  of  a 
cow,  or  the  brushing  of  a  floor,  were  great 
and  holy  duties  —  so  he  thought ;  and  he 
used  to  tell  his  people  of  the  high  aims 
that  may  glorify  even  the  humblest  lot,  and 
of  the  strength  God  gives  to  lowly  souls 
that  obey  His  guiding  voice  in  little  things. 


SEEKERS  OF  THE   TRUTH. 


57 


A  stream  flowed  down  from  the  hills 
through  the  woods  and  fields  near  West 
Roxbury.  It  leaped  over  rocks,  and  rushed 
down  its  channel  on  the  steep  hillside  till  it 
reached  the  meadows  near  the  village,  where 
ferns  and  reeds  bent  over  it,  and  saw  their 
images  reflected  in  the  peaceful  stream. 
Happy  children  used  to  play  beside  this 
brook  on  summer  days,  sailing  their  little 
wooden  and  paper  boats  upon  it.  In  one 
place  on  the  bank  stood  an  old  water  mill. 
There  wondering  boys  and  girls  used  to 
stand  sometimes  beside  the  great  wheel, 
and  watch  how  the  running  water  turned 
it  slowly  round  to   grind    the   miller's    corn. 

Some  of  these  children  may  have  been  in 
the  church  one  Sunday  morning  when  Theo- 
dore Parker  spoke  in  his  sermon  of  this  great 
mill  wheel.  Perhaps  they  knew  what  he 
meant  when  he  went  on  to  say  that,  as  this 
ever-flowing  stream  from  the  hills  above 
gave  the  miller's  wheel  power  to  grind  his 
corn,  so  God's  strength  would  flow  into  every 
human  soul  that  turned  itself  in  prayer  to 
Him.  In  just  this  sort  of  way  did  Theodore 
Parker  find  a  beautiful  meaning  in  th^  com- 


58  THEODORE  PARKER. 

mon  things  of  life,  and  try  to  bring  thoughts 
of  Heaven  into  the  daily  ways  of  men. 

It  often  seemed  to  him  that  people  made 
a  great  mistake  in  thinking  that  the  Bible 
told  them  of  lands  and  times  that  were 
holier  than  their  own  could  be.  He  wanted 
them  to  be  sure  that  God  was  close  to  them 
in  their  own  lives,  speaking  in  their  hearts, 
as  he  has  spoken  in  the  hearts  of  prophets 
long  ago ;  so  that  when  they  felt  sure  a 
thing  was  right  to  do  or  say,  they  might  say 
of  their  own  consciences,  which  told  them 
so,  "Thus  saith  the  Lord." 

Such  thoughts  as  these  came  to  him 
in  his  quiet  country  life.  They  grew  clearer 
and  stronger  as  time  went  on ;  and  other 
thoughts  followed  them,  which  he  knew  he 
must  some  time  give  as  his  message  to  the 
world.  The  time  to  do  so  had  not  yet  come 
however ;  and  while  he  waited  he  grew 
strong  in  faith  and  courage.  It  was  well  he 
grew  thus  strong,  for  great  troubles  lay  be- 
fore him.  By-and-by  men  were  to  give  him 
the  hard  name  of  heretic, — and  names  even 
harder  to  bear  than  that, —  because  he  turned 
from  the  old  ways  of  thought  that  the  world 
had  so  long  held  dear. 


SEEKERS  OF  THE   TRUTH. 


59 


Theodore  Parker  was  not  the  only  man 
in  Massachusetts  who  began  to  turn  to 
new  thoughts  in  those  days.  Books  were 
coming  over  to  America  from  England  and 
Germany.  They  brought  with  them  new 
forms  of  belief  and  fresh  ideas.  People 
who  read  these  books  began  to  question 
their  own  minds  afresh,  and  to  turn  from 
the  teachings  of  their  senses  only,  and  of 
old  customs,  to  the  teachings  of  "  innate 
ideas,"  as  they  called  the  reason  and  judg- 
ment planted  within  them. 

These  people  called  themselves  ''Friends 
of  Progress."  Some  of  them  were  young 
and  had  made  as  yet  no  name  in  the  world. 
Some  were  old,  and  were  great  leaders  to 
young  Theodore  Parker.  One  of  these  was 
Dr.  Channing,  whom  we  hold  in  loving  mem- 
ory now  for  his  good  words  and  holy  life. 
Once  upon  a  time,  when  Theodore's  heart 
was  heavy,  some  words  from  Dr.  Channing 
cheered  him,  and  sent  him  bravely  on  his  way 
again.  "Give  my  love  to  Theodore  Parker," 
said  the  wise  elder  man,  "and  tell  him  to 
preach  what  he  thoroughly  believes  and 
feels.     Let  the   full   heart  pour  itself  forth." 


6o  THEODORE  PARKER. 

But  this  happened  after  the  time  we  are  now 
reading  about.  Every  week  these  Friends  of 
Progress  used  to  meet  in  Boston  to  talk  of 
subjects  that  were  not  quite  clear  to  their 
minds.  Theodore  was  one  of  the  youngest 
of  this  band.  Before  long,  however,  few 
of  his  companions  were  ready  to  follow  in 
their  thoughts  where  his  words  led. 

Nor  was  it  only  the  wise  men  of  Boston 
who  were  thus  awake.  Across  the  waters 
of  the  sheltered  bay,  where  three  hundred 
years  before  the  Puritan  Fathers,  persecuted 
at  home,  had  found  a  safe  refuge  for  their 
new  faith,  lay  Cape  Cod.  Hardy  fishermen 
lived  on  Cape  Cod,  who  spent  their  days 
in  fishing  on  the  bay,  or  on  the  rough 
waves  of  the  Atlantic  Ocean,  which  beat 
upon  their  eastern  coast.  Lying  out  on 
the  waves  in  their  fishing-boats,  waiting  for 
wind  or  tide,  these  people  found  time  to 
think.  Amid  the  terrors  of  the  storm  and 
perils  of  the  sea,  life  was  a  very  real 
thing  to  them ;  and,  like  Theodore  Parker, 
they  thought  men  lived  too  much  in  past 
times,  and  did  not  feel  God  present  in  every 
moment  , of  their  lives. 


SEEKERS  OF  THE   TRUTH.  6  I 

These  fishers  of  Cape  Cod  called  them- 
selves "  Come  Outers,"  because  they  had 
come  out  of  all  churches  to  worship  God 
in  a  way  of  their  own.  They  used  to  say 
that  in  every  home  people  ought  to  pray  as 
in  a  temple ;  that  all  days  are  the  Lord's 
days  —  not  only  Sundays  which  men  have 
set  apart  from  the  rest  of  the  week.  Theo- 
dore went  about  among  the  Cape  Cod  men, 
and  when  he  saw  how  they  tried  to  make 
all  life  religious,  he  thought  their  ways 
were  very  good  ways,  though  they  belonged 
to  no  church  and  held  no  special  creed. 

Now  the  village  of  West  Roxbury  was, 
as  has  been  said,  a  quiet  country  place; 
but  not  many  miles  away  lay  the  busy  city 
of  Boston,  and  further  south  the  still 
larger  city  of  New  York.  News  came  to 
the  quiet  village  from  these  noisy  cities, 
where  men  lived  closely  packed  in  dingy, 
narrow  streets:  tales  came  of  sin  and  sor- 
row that  went  on  there,  and  of  wars  and 
crimes  in  the  great  world  beyond.  Theodore 
Parker  had  a  friend  named  George  Ripley, 
living  near  Boston  in  a  pretty  home  with 
many  books  and  pictures  about  him,  and 
everything  to  make  life  gay  and  pleasant. 


62  THEODORE  PARKER. 

But  it  made  George  Ripley  so  sad  to 
hear  these  tales  of  the  sin  and  trouble 
among  the  people  in  great  cities,  that  he 
lost  all  joy  in  his  own  happy  life,  and 
thought  the  best  way  to  mend  the  world 
would  be  to  set  the  example  of  a  way  of 
living  in  which  there  should  be  neither  very 
rich  nor  very  poor.  So  he  sold  his  pretty 
home,  and  formed  a  little  colony  called 
Brook  Farm,  where  he  and  his  wife,  and 
some  other  people  who  thought  like  him- 
self, had  all  things  In  common,  and  worked 
together  on  their  daily  wants. 

Brook  Farm  lay  just  one  mile  from  Theo- 
dore Parker's  house.  Often  he  crossed  the 
meadows  to  see  and  talk  with  these  friends 
of  his ;  there  he  used  to  find  them  busy 
plowing  and  sowing,  cooking  and  wash- 
ing; but  they  did  not  forget  that  their  minds 
must  be  fed  as  well  as  their  bodies.  And 
when  evening  came  books  and  music  had 
their  turn,  and  all  enjoyed  them  together 
like  one  large  family. 

These  people  had  given  up  their  wealth 
and  pleasant  homes  to  try  to  teach  the 
world   the    nobleness    of  daily   toil,    and    to 


SEEKERS  OF  THE  TRUTH.  63 

lessen  the  great  division  between  the  rich 
and  poor.  Theodore  honored  them  because 
they  were  so  nobly  true  to  what  seemed 
right  to  them ;  but  he  did  not  think  they 
had  found  the  true  way  yet  in  which  to  mend 
the  sins  and  sorrows  of  the  world. 

One  night  a  great  meeting  was  to  be  held 
at  Harvard  College.  Ralph  Waldo  Emerson, 
famous  in  those  days,  though  he  became 
much  more  famous  afterwards,  was  going  to 
lecture  to  the  students  there.  Hundreds  of 
other  people  went  to  listen,  and  Theodore, 
who  loved  the  long,  low%  red-brick  building 
in  whose  walls  he  had  learned  so  much,  went 
also  with  his  wife  to  hear  what  the  wise  man 
would  say.  Mr.  Emerson  was  one  of  the 
Friends  of  Progress,  and  he  had  something 
he  wanted  to  tell  the  Harvard  students  about 
the  duties  of  a  Christian  preacher  and  the 
help  the  Christian  Church  should  give  the 
world.  It  would  take  long  to  tell  all  he  said 
that  night ;  some  people  were  surprised  and 
even  shocked,  and  some  were  glad.  Theo- 
dore was  glad,  and  as  he  went  home  he 
felt  sure  that  at  last  the  time  had  come  when 
he  must  preach  his  message  to  the  world. 


64  THEODORE  PARKER. 

But  he  knew  that  in  doing  so  he  should 
grieve  many  dear  old  friends,  for  people  were 
not  then  used  to  hear  the  sort  of  things  he 
had  to  say ;  and  when  he  asked  counsel  of 
one  or  two  wise  and  trusted  men,  they 
answered  him  thus:  ''Keep  silent;  you  will 
do  no  good  by  telling  all  you  think ;  you  will 
frighten  your  hearers  and  bring  evil  on  your- 
self." This  was  a  warning  to  which  many 
men  who  longed  to  live  in  peace,  as  he 
longed,  would  have  listened.  But  to  him 
another  voice  seemed  to  speak,  and  it  said  : 
**Do  the  best,  be  the  best,  and  say  the  best, 
you  can  "  ;  and  back  to  him  over  the  long 
years  came  the  memory  of  his  mother's 
words:  "  Your  life  depends  on  your  heeding 
this  little  voice." 

So  Theodore  Parker  made  up  his  mind  to 
speak  out  all  the  truth  he  knew.  First  in  the 
village  church  at  West  Roxbury  he  told  the 
simple  people  some  of  these  thoughts  of  his. 
All  his  words  were  always  good  to  them,  and 
they  came  to  thank  him  for  the  new  light  he 
had  thrown  for  them  upon  the  Bible.  But 
it  was  quite  another  matter  when,  in  a  great, 
crowded  church,  in  Boston,  he  preached  his 


SEEKERS  OF  THE  TRUTH.  65 

mind  out  to  strangers.  From  that  time  men 
gave  him  the  name  of  heretic  and  unbeHever, 
and  turned  away  from  him  when  they  met 
him  in  the  streets.  Preachers  refused  to  let 
him  speak  in  their  pulpits,  and  old  compan- 
ions grieved  his  loving  heart  by  their  cold- 
ness and  refusal  of  his  outstretched  hand. 
And  what  had  Theodore  Parker,  with  his 
loving,  reverent  heart,  said  that  could  shock 
and  wound  the  people  of  Boston  in  those 
days  ?  A  few  words  will  tell,  and  if  we 
cannot  now  think  like  him,  we  must  still 
honor  him  for  his  truthfulness,  and  for  his 
great  reverence  for  God,  which  the  blinded 
people  of  his  own  time  could  not  see. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

A    BRAVE    HERETIC. 

The  people  who  lived  long  ago  among  the 
hills  of  Greece  used  to  believe  that  the  gods 
they  worshiped  lived  far  away  on  a  glorious 
mountain-top,  and  looked  down  thence 
upon  the  distant  homes  of  men.  But  one 
day  a  new  fable  arose  among  them.  It  was 
said  that  one  of  those  far-off  gods  had  come 
down  to  earth  and  taken  up  his  abode  among 
men  ;  for  on  the  flowery  fields  of  Sicily  he 
had  entered  into  the  form  of  a  common 
shepherd-boy  and  watched  the  sheep  of  King 
Admetus.  This  fable  brought  the  Greek 
people  just  a  little  nearer  to  the  truth,  if  it 
broke  down  the  gulf  they  made  between  the 
gods  and  men,  and  made  them  fancy  that  the 
humblest  human  soul  might  be  inspired  from 
above. 

It  was  no  fable  Theodore  Parker  wanted 
to  tell  people,  but  a  truth  which  yet  bore 
some  likeness  to  this  story  of  the   ancient 


A  BRAVE  HERETIC.  6/ 

Greeks.  For  he  thought  that  men  in  his 
own  time  had  poor  and  narrow  views  of  God 
and  of  his  deahngs  with  the  world,  and  he 
wanted  to  teach  them  to  find  Him  always  act- 
ing in  their  homes  and  lives.  In  this  many 
people  thought  as  he  did ;  but  he  went 
further  than  this,  and  then  they  called  him 
heretic  and  unbeliever.  He  spoke  of  the 
Bible,  and  said  men  worshiped  it  as  the 
unerring  guide  for  all  their  ways,  as  the  only 
message  given  by  God  to  men  in  distant 
times  when  he  spoke  once  for  all  to  a  few 
holy,  chosen  souls.  And  in  thus  doing,  he 
said,  they  were  wrong,  for  they  put  a  limit  to 
God's  love  and  the  working  of  His  Spirit  in 
the  world.  He  said  to  them :  ''  the  Bible  is  one 
thing,  but  religion  is  another.  If  there  were 
no  Bible  we  should  still  hear  God's  voice 
within  ;  His  love  is  wider  than  men  know, 
and  he  still  lives  and  speaks  to  them  as 
plainly  as  he  spoke  in  days  of  old.  Let  each 
man,  woman,  and  child  keep  open  soul  to 
receive  God's  messages,  and  we  shall  all  be 
inspired.  Let  us  reverence  the  Bible  for 
what  it  is  and  for  all  its  holy  thoughts,  but 
no  Bible  can  tell  us  so  clearly  as  the  voice 


68  THEODORE  PARKER. 

in  our  own  heart  what  we  ought  to  do  and 
say." 

Now  these  opinions  of  Theodore  Parker 
must  not  be  misunderstood.  The  Bible  was 
dear  to  him  for  the  sake  of  the  holy  thoughts 
and  teachings  it  held  ;  but  in  his  view  all  of 
it  was  not  equally  true  and  grand,  for  the 
men  who  wrote  it  were  liable  to  mistakes, 
and  sometimes  seemed  to  read  God's  lessons 
wrongly. 

The  fact  was,  Theodore  Parker  would 
not  make  the  Bible  the  only  Word  of  God. 
That  was  too  narrow  a  thought  for  him,  and 
he  said  the  inspiring  Spirit  of  God  spoke 
through  all  good  books  and  all  good  souls  in 
all  times,  for  the  Father  never  left  his  earthly 
children  to  themselves. 

But  no  wonder  people  were  amazed  in 
those  days  to  hear  this  new  doctrine  preached. 
Often  in  their  thoughts,  viewing  the  Bible 
as  the  inspired  and  only  guide,  they  used  to 
search  its  pages  for  an  answer  to  their  doubts, 
and  twist  the  Bible  words  into  meanings 
which  suited  their  own  needs.  So  slave- 
owners found  in  the  Bible  pretexts  for 
slavery,  and  warriors  found  examples  in  the 


A  BRAVE  HERETIC.  69 

cruel  Canaanitish  wars.  Theodore  Parker 
would  have  had  them  faithful  to  the  teachings 
of  conscience  above  all,  with  all  due  rever- 
ence for  the  Bible  where  its  holy  words 
may  speak  to  us  as  those  of  no  other  book 
can  do. 

It  was  in  this  kind  of  way  that  Theodore 
spoke  in  Boston.  He  told  of  the  great, 
wide  communion  of  God  with  every  human 
soul,  and  he  left  the  many  creeds  that  men 
have  formed  on  one  side.  For  he  cared 
little  for  forms  of  belief.  True  religion,  he 
said,  was  above  the  changing  opinions  of 
men.  Yet  because  he  believed  in  one  God, 
he  called  himself  a  Unitarian,  as  his  fathers 
had  done  before  him,  and  now  the  ministers 
of  the  Unitarian  churches  in  Boston  were 
shocked  by  his  free  speech.  They  could  not 
see  the  reverent  spirit  that  lay  in  all  he  said, 
and  the  dream  never  crossed  the  minds  of 
most  of  them  that  perhaps,  after  all,  his 
thoughts  of  God  were  wiser  and  grander 
than  their  own. 

So  some  of  these  old  friends  of  his  called 
a  meeting  together,  and  asked  Theodore  to 
attend ;  and  at  this  meeting  hard  words  were 


JO  THEODORE  PARKER. 

said  of  him,  and  cruel  names  given  to  him. 
Perhaps  at  this  time  Dr.  Channing's  message, 
"  Give  my  love  to  Theodore  Parker,  and  tell 
him  to  preach  what  he  thoroughly  believes 
and  feels,"  strengthened  the  young  man's 
courage.  The  wise  old  man  by  this  time  had 
died,  and  the  gentle  memory  of  him  was  all 
that  remained.  Well,  at  this  meeting,  one 
man  after  another  rose  up  to  blame  Theodore, 
and  he  seemed  to  stand  alone,  forsaken  by  all 
present.  At  last,  in  gentler  words,  one 
praised  his  truthfulness,  and  another  fol- 
lowed in  similar  strains.  Then  he  broke 
down,  and  could  bear  no  more.  Worn  out 
and  wearied  he  went  weeping  from  the  room. 
After  this  came  a  long,  long  time  when 
few  would  speak  to  him.  He  was  tender- 
hearted and  loving,  and  this  treatment 
wounded  him  sorely.  Still  he  was  brave  and 
true,  and  willing  to  stand  alone  if  need  be, 
and  **  to  let  off  the  truth  just  as  it  came  to 
him."  He  was  still  a  member  of  the  great 
church  of  God,  and  his  message  to  men  he 
would  speak,  and  no  man  should  silence  him. 
But  he  often  thought  that  the  time  would 
come  when  no  church  on  earth  would  be  left 


A  BRAVE  HERETIC. 


71 


to  open  its  doors  to  him.  Then  he  knew 
what  he  would  do.  He  would  go  out  into 
the  fields  and  glens,  and  on  the  roadsides, 
wherever  men  and  women  were  to  be  found 
and  he  would  make  the  land  ring  with  his 
voice. 

Many  friends  had  warned  him  to  be  silent 
and  hide  these  thoughts  of  his.  They  had 
said  to  him:  "  If  you  find  errors  in  the  Bible 
you  will  frighten  the  world,  and  bring  evil  on 
yourself."  Now  all  these  warnings  had  been 
realized.  Yet  Theodore  was  glad  he  had 
spoken,  and  still  he  cried:  ''Not  one  book 
only  is  inspired,  and  not  a  few  ancient  men 
alone;  but  all  may  be  inspired,  for  still  God 
lives  and  loves." 

Two  hundred  years  previous  to  Theodore 
Parker's  time,  kings  and  princes  had  gathered 
together  in  Germany  to  silence  Martin  Luther 
when  he  proclaimed  the  need  of  reformation 
In  the  Church.  All  in  vain.  Fearless  he  rose 
up  and  spoke  the  truth  from  his  heart,  saying, 
*'  Here  I  am,  God  help  me,  I  can  do  no  other." 
Where  would  the  world  have  been  if  Martin 
Luther  had  kept  silence  because  he  was 
afraid  of  what  men  might  do  or   say?     So 


72  THEODORE  PARKER. 

with  Theodore  Parker ;  the  boy  was  father  of 
the  man,  and  he  was  still  determined  to  be, 
and  do,  and  say,  the  very  wisest  and  best  he 
could.  Yet  it  was  hard  for  him  to  do  so ;  for 
it  seemed  as  if  no  place  would  soon  be  left 
where  people  would  be  able  to  listen  to  him. 
Still  he  trusted  the  way  would  open  in  good 
time,  and  his  sad  heart  found  comfort  in  his 
home,  in  the  love  of  little  children,  and  his 
work  and  books. 

Time  passed,  and  by-and-by  the  lonely  man 
was  asked  by  some  brave  people  to  give  some 
lectures  in  Boston.  He  agreed  at  once  to  do 
so,  and  the  doors  of  a  great  building  in  Bos- 
ton, called  the  Masonic  Hall,  were  opened  to 
him.  A  crowd  of  curious  people  flocked  to 
hear,  and  went  home  again,  it  is  said,  ''with 
their  hearts  aflame."  The  next  winter  he  lec- 
tured again,  and  after  this  he  resolved  to  have 
his  lectures  published,  that  what  he  believed 
and  spoke  might  be  more  widely  known.  But 
he  had  to  seek  long  before  he  found  a  pub- 
lisher willing  to  help  forward  such  a  book. 
When  at  last  it  came  out,  it  quickly  traveled 
far  and  wide  through  America,  and  crossed 
the  sea  to  the  English  shores.     Thus  the  seed 


A  BRAVE  HERETIC.  73 

he  sowed  was  springing  up  ;  but  Theodore 
did  not  yet  guess  the  harvest  that  should 
be  reaped.  Long  afterwards  he  heard  the 
following  story  of  a  boy  who  read  that  first 
book  of  his. 

One  Sunday,  an  idle  youth  in  a  country 
house,  who  found  time  pass  slowly,  looked 
for  a  book  to  help  to  while  away  the  hours. 
Some  one  gave  him  that  new  book  by 
Theodore  Parker  which  was  still  almost  un- 
known. Nothing  better  was  at  hand,  so 
he  took  it,  fearing,  however,  to  find  it  very 
dull.  Some  days  afterwards  the  youth 
brought  back  the  book  to  its  owner,  and 
said  to  him  :  — 

''Will  you  sell  me  that  book?  I  want  to 
own  it." 

It  was  given  to  him,  and  he  went  away. 
Years  after  the  idle  youth  had  become  an 
earnest,  noble  man,  the  helper  of  every 
good  cause  he  met  with.  The  book,  which 
he  still  owned,  was  bound  in  leather  to 
preserve  it,  but  the  pages  were  loose  and 
falling  out,  so  often  had  he  read  it  himself 
and  lent  it;  and  all  that  was  worth  having 
in   himself  he    traced    to   the   influence   of 


74 


THEODORE  PARKER. 


those  brave  teachings  of  the  heretic  Theo- 
dore Parker. 

But,  meanwhile,  the  preacher  himself  was 
walking  in  the  dark.  He  seemed  to  be 
breaking  away  from  all  the  quiet  old  ways 
and  thoughts  into  some  unknown  field  of 
work,  and  it  was  a  comfort  to  him  now 
and  then  to  go  back  to  Lexington  to  see 
the  old  haunts  of  his  boyhood,  and  pluck  the 
violets  on  his  mother's  grave.  He  grew 
worn  and  thin,  and  kind  friends  who  were 
still  left  to  him  joined  together  to  send 
him  to  Europe  for  rest  and  change  of  scene. 
So  one  day,  his  wife  and  he  said  their  good- 
byes to  West  Roxbury  for  a  year,  and 
sailed  across  the  Atlantic  Ocean  in  search 
of  health  and  peace. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

SCATTERING    BROADCAST. 

A  JOYFUL  welcome  met  him  at  West  Rox- 
bury,  when,  strong  and  ready  for  new  work, 
Theodore  Parker  set  foot  again  at  home. 
He  had  been  among  the  grand  Swiss  moun- 
tains and  the  ItaHan  lakes,  and  he  lived  in  old 
cities  which  spoke  to  him  of  the  great  deeds 
of  the  past ;  and  best  of  all,  he  had  met  with, 
and  talked  to,  wise  and  noble  men  whose 
words  gave  him  courage  to  follow  after  truth, 
and  give  his  best  thoughts  to  the  world. 

West  Roxbury  had  missed  his  kindly  words 
and  deeds,  and  the  cheerful  voice  and 
presence  that  made  the  world  bright  to 
others,  however  sad  he  might  be  himself. 
Now  he  was  strong  and  able  to  bear  the  cold- 
ness which  began  again  to  meet  him  in 
Boston  on  every  side.  Sunday  after  Sunday 
he  spoke  to  the  few  listeners  in  his  village 
church,  and  longed  to  be  of  wider  use  among 


76  THEODORE  PARKER. 

his  fellow-men  ;  but  there  seemed  to  be  no 
further  opening  for  him. 

Now,  there  was  at  this  time  in  Boston, 
away  from  the  great  city  churches  where  the 
rich  and  well-born  people  flourished,  a  mis- 
sion church  hidden  away  in  a  poor  part  of 
the  town,  where  working  men  and  women 
flocked  together  to  find  the  bread  of  life. 
The  preacher  in  this  church  was  a  Mr. 
Sargent,  a  good  friend  to  his  people,  who 
used  to  seek  them  out  in  their  poor  houses, 
and  try  to  help  and  comfort  the  sins  and 
sorrows  of  the  Boston  back  streets  and 
courts.  He  knew  that  Theodore's  words 
were  such  as  his  people  needed ;  for  they 
told  of  the  love  of  God,  and  of  hope  for 
every  down-trodden,  sinful  man.  So  one 
day  he  asked  him  to  preach  to  the  people  in 
the  mission  church,  and  poor,  weary  men 
and  women  came  from  their  hard,  sad  homes 
to  listen,  and  went  back  with  new  strength. 
But  Mr.  Sargent  forfeited  his  church  by  this 
act.  The  people  who  had  placed  him  in  his 
mission  work  were  among  the  men  who 
called  Theodore  Parker  a  heretic  and 
**  unsound  "  in    belief ;  so    the   poor   people 


SCATTERING  BROADCAST. 


n 


lost  their  preacher  and  friend.  Yet  some 
good  arose  out  of  this  wrong.  The  story 
went  abroad  ;  and  certain  young  men  who 
loved  justice  and  fair  play  resolved  that 
"  Theodore  Parker  should  have  a  chance  to 
be  heard  in  Boston." 

In  those  days  a  great  gloomy  building, 
called  the  "  Melodeon,"  was  standing  in  Bos- 
ton.  Because  no  church  would  open  its 
doors  to  such  a  preacher,  these  young  men 
hired  the  Melodeon,  and  asked  Mr.  Par- 
ker to  preach  there  every  Sunday  morning 
to  such  people  as  would  come  to  listen. 
This  chance  could  not  be  lost,  and  it  was 
settled  he  should  preach  in  Boston  every 
Sunday  morning,  and  return  to  his  own 
church  and  people  at  West  Roxbury  for  the 
evening  service. 

It  was  a  cold  wet  morning  in  'February, 
1845,  when  Theodore  Parker  first  spoke  in 
the  Melodeon.  Snow  lay  on  the  streets 
and  roofs,  wind  and  rain  blew  and  splashed 
against  the  gloomy  building,  and  the  dark 
sky  threatened  storm.  Surely  only  a  few 
hearers  would  venture  out  on  such  a  day ! 
Not  so ;  careless  of  rain    and   snow,  people 


78  THEODORE  PARKER. 

crowded  in  till  the  great  hall  was  full.  Sun- 
day after  Sunday  they  came  together,  and 
some  of  them  had  never  been  in  a  church, 
and  some  were  tired  of  creeds  they  could  not 
believe,  and  all  came  gladly  to  hear  one 
speak  who  gave  them  faith  and  hope  once 
more.  There  was  always  one  spot  of  beauty 
in  this  ugly  building.  Before  the  preacher, 
on  his  desk,  stood  flowers  in  water, —  wild 
flowers  as  the  spring  advanced, —  violets  and 
lilies  and  gentians  from  the  brook  near  his 
old  home ;  and  these  country  messengers 
helped  him  to  tell  his  message  to  the  dwell- 
ers in  the  city  of  the  ever-present  love  of 
God. 

Before  long  a  new  step  in  life's  pathway 
opened  out  to  Theodore  Parker.  It  was 
plain  that  all  Sunday  must  be  given  up  to 
the  crowds  at  the  Melodeon.  He  must  leave 
West  Roxbury,  and  use  all  his  time  and 
strength  in  the  new  work  in  the  city.  So 
there  was  a  sad  farewell  sermon  to  his  village 
friends,  and  a  sad  farewell  also  to  his  pretty 
country  home.  Then  life  began  for  him  and 
his  family  in  Boston.  The  new  house  was  in 
a  street.     Meadows  and  trees  were  changed 


SCATTERING  BROADCAST,  79 

for  houses,  and  the  birds'  songs  for  the  noises 
of  city  life.  But  every  room  was  kept  bright 
with  flowers,  creeping  plants  were  trained 
in  his  study  window,  and  playthings  for  the 
children  still  found  room  near  his  desk, 
though  books  covered  shelves  and  tables 
and  spread  themselves  over  the  rest  of  the 
house.  What  a  change  from  the  day  when 
the  farmer's  boy  had  earned  his  first  book 
by  picking  whortleberries  in  the  early  morn- 
ing in  the  Lexington  fields !  Every  day 
his  life  became  more  full  of  work.  He 
began  to  travel  over  the  country  to  lec- 
ture in  distant  towns,  and  in  lonely  places 
where  settlers  still  lived  in  their  rough  log 
huts.  On  such  journeys  he  used  to  carry  a 
bag  of  books  with  him  to  read  on  the  way. 
Often,  however,  the  books  were  laid  aside, 
that  he  might  talk  with  his  fellow-travelers. 
In  this  way  he  sowed  good,  brave  thoughts 
among  the  young,  and  gave  comfort  to  sad 
people  and  never  knew  at  the  time  what 
became  of  the  seed  he  sowed. 

Perhaps  if  such  people  had  known  the 
name  of  the  stranger  who  cheered  their 
lives,  and  gave  them  fresh  hopes,  they  would 


8o  THEODORE  PARKER. 

have  shrunk  away  from  him ;  for  report  was 
busy  with  his  name,  and  news  of  his  heresies 
spread  quickly  over  the  land.  But,  un- 
known, he  made  his  way  at  once  to  the 
hearts  of  all  he  met.  '*  Ah !  "  said  an  old 
lady  one  day  who  chanced  to  hear  him 
preach  as  a  stranger  in  a  country  place  — 
"Ah!  if  that  infidel,  Theodore  Parker, 
could  only  have  heard  this  man  preach ! " 
It  was  no  easy  life  to  travel  and  lecture 
in  this  way.  Often  he  was  wet  through ; 
often  without  food  when  weak  and  weary ; 
and  often  he  came  home  worn  out  and  ill. 
At  home,  too,  he  was  always  busy.  About 
this  time  he  began  to  write  a  book  on  the 
growth  of  religious  ideas  in  the  world  ;  and 
this  book  he  planned  to  finish  in  ten  years' 
time,  if  he  lived  so  long.  But  he  had  few 
quiet  minutes  without  interruption.  Up 
into  his  study  from  early  morn  till  late  at 
night  came  all  sorts  of  people,  wanting  all 
sorts  of  help  and  advice ;  and  every  day  he 
wrote  many  letters.  But  through  all  this 
busy  life,  Theodore  Parker's  was  a  pattern 
home ;  and  every  person  who  came  there 
felt  its  peace  and  the  sunshine  he  spread 
within  it. 


5  CA  TTERING  BR  OA  DC  AST.  8  I 

Strange  to  tell,  pictures  of  bears  and 
carved  Images  of  bears,  little  and  large, 
were  to  be  found  in  every  room  in  his  house, 
and  his  wife's  pet  name  was  "  Bearsie."  One 
day,  in  the  Swiss  town  of  Berne,  he  had 
seen  the  patient,  pitiful  bears  in  their  deep, 
dreary  pit,  and  had  thought  of  the  great, 
powerful  creatures  ever  after. 

Through  the  noisy,  dirty  streets  of  Boston 
visions  of  the  fair  country  home  he  had  lately 
lived  in  went  with  him  constantly  ;  and  some- 
times he  and  his  wife  took  holiday  together, 
to  see  the  early  apple  blossoms  at  West  Rox- 
bury,  or  the  flowers  in  the  fields  round  the  old 
farm  at  Lexington.  But  even  better  visions 
than  those  of  country  sights  and  sounds  went 
with  him  wherever  he  went ;  —  holy  thoughts 
and  high  ideals,  which  he  put  forth  into  his 
daily  life,  and  thus  made  it  rich  with  noble 
deeds.  Some  of  these  thoughts  now  and 
then  took  the  form  of  poems,  and  he  said 
one  day  to  an  old  friend :  "I  sing  prayers 
when  I  loiter  in  the  woods  or  travel  the  quiet 
road."  Read  one  of  these  prayers  thus  sung. 
No  wonder  a  grand  life  grew  out  of  such 
thoughts,  when  every  little  chance  for  work 
was  used,  and  every  little  duty  was  done. 


82  THEODORE  PARKER. 

"  Father,  I  will  not  ask  for  wealth  or  fame, 

Though  once  they  would  have  joyed  my  carnal  sense. 
I  shudder  not  to  bear  a  hated  name, 

Wanting  all  wealth,  myself  my  sole  defence. 
But  give  me.  Lord,  eyes  to  behold  the  truth  — 

A  seeing  sense,  that  knows  the  eternal  Right ; 
A  heart  with  pity  filled  and  gentlest  ruth  ; 

A  manly  faith  that  makes  all  darkness  light. 
Give  me  the  power  to  labor  for  mankind  ; 

Make  me  the  mouth  of  such  as  cannot  speak ; 
Eyes  let  me  be  to  groping  men  and  blind  ; 

A  conscience  to  the  base  :  and  to  the  weak 
Let  me  be  hands  and  feet ;  and  to  the  foolish,  mind  ; 

And  lead  still  further  on  such  as  Thy  Kingdom  seek." 

Day  by  day  his  influence  spread  more 
widely.  There  was  no  fear  now,  as  there  had 
been  at  West  Roxbury,  that  he  was  not  using 
all  his  powers.  In  doubt  and  danger  he  had 
sown  his  seed,  and  God  had  sent  the  winds  to 
blow  it  far  and  wide  over  the  land.  Well  for 
him  that  he  had  said  in  faith  what  he  thought 
right ;  for  now,  in  distant  lands,  his  words 
brought  help  to  many  thirsty  souls,  though 
still  at  home  in  Boston  he  was  often  met  by 
anger  and  scorn. 

Hundreds  of  miles  away,  in  the  wild  lands 
of  Minnesota,  where  the  great  River  Miss- 
issippi takes  its  rise,  a  working  man  had 
gone  out  from  Boston  in  those  days  to  make 


SCATTERING  BROADCAST.  ^2) 

a  new  home  in  the  lonely  plains.  There 
was  a  hard  fight  to  be  fought  with  treacher- 
ous Indians  :  forests  to  cut  down  and  swamps 
to  drain  :  and  the  sharers  of  his  toil  were  a 
few  workmen  like  himself.  By  degrees  they 
built  a  saw-mill  and  a  blacksmith's  forge,  and 
two  or  three  wooden  huts  to  live  in.  But 
they  had  brought  little  besides  their  tools 
from  the  distant  city.  One  possession  more 
this  unlearned  leader  of  the  little  company 
had  with  him.  This  was  a  volume  of  Theo- 
dore Parker's  sermons ;  and  at  night,  when 
work  was  over,  he  and  his  comrades  used  to 
gather  round  the  log-fire,  and  the  best  reader 
among  them  would  spell  out  the  sermons  ; 
and  then  all  talkeci  over  their  meaning,  while 
the  stormy  winds  howled  round  this  little 
church  in  the  wilds. 

By-and-by  Theodore  Parker  had  a  letter 
from  these  camp-men,  asking  him  to  send 
them  out  some  more  of  his  sermons — such 
as  would  suit  a  rough  settler's  mind  the  best. 
His  words  had  taught  them  to  work  with 
a  will,  and  to  see  a  holy  calling  in  the  labor 
of  turning  the  wilderness  into  a  garden. 

Another  day  a  letter,  badly  spelt  and  hard 


84  THEODORE  PARKER, 

to  read,  came  to  him  from  the  Far  West.     A 

poor  farm-boy  sent  it.  He  told  in  it  how 
years  before  he  had  lost  his  left  hand.  Then 
brothers  and  friends  clubbed  together  to 
send  him  to  school,  where  he  learned  to 
read,  and  came  upon  Theodore  Parker's 
first  published  book,  **  The  Discourse  on 
Religion."  Then  he  was  made  a  teacher, 
and  when  he  had  earned  enough  money, 
he  sent  to  Boston  for  more  sermons.  These 
he  lent  to  other  people,  and  could  not 
keep  to  himself  the  new  thoughts  they 
taught  him.  So  a  cry  rose  against  him  in 
the  village  where  he  lived.  He  was  called 
an  infidel,  and  old  friends  and  brothers 
forsook  him.  All  this  he  wrote,  ending  his 
letter  thus :  "I  expect  in  a  few  days  to 
have  no  home.  I  am  poor.  Last  summer 
I  was  a  day-laborer.  Now  no  one  will 
receive  '  an  infidel '  on  his  farm.  I  want 
to  get  work  in  Boston,  where  I  can  clasp 
you  by  the  hand,  and  listen  to  your  noble 
words,  and  take  example  from  your  manly 
life.  Write  brave  words  to  me  and  I  will 
try  to  live  down  all  this  opposition."  There 
is   no  need    to   tell    that   Theodore    Parker 


SCATTERING  BROADCAST.  85 

Stretched  out  the  strong  right  hand  of  help 
to  this  new  disciple,  and  the  youth  became 
another  centre  of  influence  to  many  others. 

Now,  what  Theodore  Parker  did  that  so 
changed  the  current  of  the  thoughts  and 
lives  of  the  men  and  women  who  listened 
to  him,  was  this :  He  taught  them  to  look 
within  for  the  clear  voice  of  God,  and  to 
believe  that  endless  grace  and  strength 
might  be  their  own  if  they  sought  for  them. 
So  will  and  faith  grew  strong  in  his  hear- 
ers ;  and,  instead  of  searching  always  into 
the  past  for  a  dead  message  which  moved 
the  souls  of  others  once  long  ago,  hard- 
working men  and  weary,  burdened  women, 
and  youths  and  maidens,  meeting  the  cares 
and  puzzles  of  life,  learned  to  say,  ''  The 
Lord  is  on  my  side  now,  and  I  will  listen 
to  His  whisper  in  my  soul,  and  will  follow 
wherever  it  may  lead." 

This  was  Theodore  Parker's  idea  of  inspi- 
ration, and  this  was  the  message  he  gave  to 
the  people  of  his  own  time,  who  were  so  apt 
to  think  the  Bible  was  the  only  Word  of 
God,  and  to  twist  its  precepts,  drawn  from 
any  page,   into   guides    for   their  own  blind 


86  THEODORE  PARKER. 

lives.  No  wonder  the  rough  settlers  blessed 
this  man,  who  taught  them  their  true  source 
of  strength  as  they  gathered  round  the  camp- 
fire  at  night ;  and  no  wonder  he  himself  had 
no  fear  of  the  hard  names  given  to  him  by 
his  fellow-men.  The  wonder  is  that  they 
could  not  see  how  much  grander  and  truer 
his  view  of  inspiration  was  than  their  own. 

On  the  last  night  of  the  year  1852,  Theo- 
dore Parker  wrote  thus  in  his  journal : 
"  Forty- two  years  ago,  my  father,  a  hale  man, 
in  his  fifty-first  year,  was  looking  for  the  birth 
of  another  child  before  morning.  Poor 
father  !  and  poor,  dear  mother  !  You  little 
knew  how  many  a  man  would  curse  the  son 
you  brought  into  life  and  piously  and  relig- 
iously trained  up.  Well,  I  will  bless  you. 
True  mother  and  father  were  you  to  me  — 
the  earliest  thing  you  taught  me  was  duty. 
Duty  to  God,  and  duty  to  man ;  that  life  was 
not  a  pleasure  and  not  a  pain  —  but  a  duty. 
Your  words  taught  me  this,  and  your  indus- 
trious lives.  What  would  I  not  give  that  I 
could  have  added  more  gladness  to  your  life 
on  earth — earnest,  toilsome,  not  without 
sorrow.     As  you  look  down  from  Heaven  — 


.  5 CA  TTERING  BROADCAST.  8 / 

if  indeed  you  can  see  your  youngest  child  — 
there  will  be  much  to  chide.  I  hope  there 
is  something  to  approve.  Dear,  merciful 
Father  God,  I  would  serve  Thee  and  bless 
mankind !  " 

So  he  looked  back  over  forty-two  years, 
and  saw  the  ever-widening  path  which  he 
had  trodden  step  by  step  in  faith.  No  early 
struggles  were  forgotten  ;  and  because  he 
remembered  so  well  those  hard  days  of  work 
that  he  had  gone  through  when  he  first 
entered  Harvard  College,  therefore  he  had 
kindly  thoughts  for  youths  who  were  now 
in  similar  case.  So  he  wrote  each  year  to 
the  principal  of  the  college,  and  asked  him 
for  the  names  of  any  new  comers  who  were 
poor,  and  in  need  of  help  to  pay  their  college 
fees.  Then  followed  unexpected  presents 
to  cheer  those  downcast  hearts.  His  house 
in  Boston,  too,  was  always  open  to  lonely 
students  far  away  from  their  own  homes. 

One  day  the  son  of  an  old  friend  of  Mr. 
Parker  entered  Harvard.  His  home  w^as  in 
the  country,  and  his  family  so  poor  that 
great  efforts  had  been  required  to  find  the 
means   to   send   him   to  college.     Theodore 


88  THEODORE  PARKER. 

Parker  guessed  that  the  mother  and  sisters, 
in  their  poverty  at  home,  were  grieving  that 
they  could  do  no  more  for  the  boy  they  had 
sent  out  into  the  world.  Accordingly  it  was 
not  long  before  their  home  was  gladdened  by 
the  news  that  a  valuable  book  the  young 
student  needed,  and  could  not  buy,  reached 
him  with  the  following  little  note:  ''Dear 
Jo :  This  book  is  from  one  who  loves  your 
father  very  much,  and  hopes  to  like  you 
equally  well:  so  be  a  good  boy."  More 
books  and  other  comforts  followed  this  first 
gift ;  and  the  youth  became  one  of  many 
who  would  not  for  the  world  have  disap- 
pointed Theodore  Parker's  hopes  for  their 
future. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

FIGHTING    FOR    FREEDOM. 

In  the  year  1852  came  another  change. 
"  The  heretic,  Theodore  Parker,"  gathered 
such  crowds  of  Hsteners  round  him  each 
Sunday  that  the  Melodeon  was  no  longer 
large  enough  to  hold  them.  The  great  Music 
Hall  in  Boston  would  admit  three  thousand 
people ;  and  that  building  was  now  chosen 
for  his  use.  There  every  seat  was  filled  ;  and 
before  the  vast,  silent  crowd  stood  this  man, 
who  had  once  been  a  farmer's  boy  in  Lexing- 
ton—  and  three  thousand  souls  waited  for 
him  to  speak. 

''  How  can  I  feed  so  great  a  multitude?" 
he  thought ;  "  I  am  but  as  a  boy  with  five  bar- 
ley loaves  and  two  small  fishes."  Yet,  true 
to  his  own  doctrine  of  inspiration,  he  listened 
while  God  spoke  to  him ;  then  forth  came 
his  message  to  the  waiting  crowds,  and  he 
never  failed  to  touch  their  hearts.  The  fact 
was,  all  he  said  had  first  come  home  to  him- 


90  THEODORE  PARKER. 

• 

self  so  clearly  that  it  presented  itself  to  his 
hearers  as  a  living  truth  that  could  not  be 
gainsaid. 

One  day  he  spoke  of  the  great  love  of 
God,  which  gives  hope  of  restoration  even 
to  the  most  guilty.  There  sat  in  a  gallery 
that  morning  a  poor  castaway,  who  had,  per- 
haps, gone  astray  and  lost  himself  in  the 
temptations  of  the  city.  The  better  nature 
of  this  man,  so  long  asleep,  woke  up  in 
answer  to  Theodore  Parkef*s  words  ;  and,  to 
his  own  surprise,  he  cried  out :  "  I  know  it  to 
be  so !     I  feel  it  to  be  so  !  " 

Theodore  Parker  stopped  and,  turning  to 
the  place  whence  the  voice  seemed  to  come, 
he  answered :  "  Yes,  my  friend,  and  you  can 
not  wander  so  far  off  but  God  can  call  you 
back."  So  came  light  into  the  dark  places, 
and  so  fresh  life  sprang  up  in  stony  ground, 
because  this  man  from  his  boyhood  had 
listened  to  and  obeyed  the  ''  inner  voice." 

There  is  a  hymn  written  by  Theodore  Par- 
ker that  we  sometimes  sing  in  our  churches 
and  Sunday  Schools.  No  doubt  it  was  some- 
times sung  by  the  great  multitude  in  the 
Boston  Music  Hall.     He  who  was   a  leader 


FIGHTING  FOR  FREEDOM. 


91 


to  SO  many  people  in  his  own  day  had  a  very 
reverent  spirit,  and  he  looked  up  to  many 
leaders  greater  and  better  than  himself.  Of 
all  these  leaders,  Jesus  Christ  was  the  Head, 
and  so  he  wrote  thus  of  Christ  and  loved  to 
hear  the  people  sing  these  words  :  — 

"  Oh  !  thou,  great  Friend  to  all  the  sons  of  men, 
Who  once  appeared  in  humblest  guise  below. 
Sin  to  rebuke,  to  break  the  captive's  chain. 
And  call  thy  brethren  forth  from  want  and  woe  — 

"  We  look  to  thee :  thy  truth  is  still  the  Light 
Which  guides  the  nations  groping  on  their  way, 
Stumbling  and  falling  in  disastrous  night, 
Yet  hoping  ever  for  the  perfect  day. 

"  Yes,  thou  art  still  the  Life  ;  thou  art  the  Way 
The  holiest  know :  Life,  Light,  and  Way  of  Heaven  ; 
And  they  who  dearest  hope  and  deepest  pray 
Toil  by  the  Life,  Light,  Way  which  Thou  hast  given." 

It  is  strange  to  think  that  in  the  Boston 
churches  at  this  time  preachers  were  preach- 
ing against  the  "  infidel  "  Theodore  Parker, 
and  praying  for  his  conversion  !  Meanwhile, 
as  he  prayed  in  the  Music  Hall,  tears  would 
chase  each  other  down  his  face,  so  much  in 
earnest  was  he  ;  and  as  he  read  the  story  of 
Christ's  life  on  earth  to  the  people,  at  certain 


92 


THEODORE  PARKER, 


passages  he  was  unable  from  deep  feeling 
to  go  on  ;  yet  they  were  old,  old  tales  to 
most  men,  and  tales  by  which  they  could  no 
longer  be  moved  to  tears. 

Here  ~  is  one  more  poem  by  Theodore 
Parker.  Then  our  story  must  tell  of  very 
different  scenes  and  times  ;  for  stern  days 
were  at  hand,  full  of  great  danger  for  men 
like  him. 

**  O,  Broth  jr,  who  for  us  doth  meekly  wear 
The  crown  of  thorns  about  thy  radiant  brow. 
What  gospel  from  the  Father  dost  thou  bear 
Our  hearts  to  cheer,  making  us  happy  now  ? 
'T  is  this  alone  the  immortal  Saviour  cries. 
To  fill  thy  heart  with  ever  active  love  : 
Love  for  the  wicked  as  in  sin  he  lies. 
Love  for  thy  brother  here,  thy  God  above. 
Fear  nothing  ill,  't  will  vanish  in  its  day ; 
Live  for  the  good,  taking  the  ill  thou  must, 
Toil  with  tliy  might,  with  manly  labor  pray. 
Living,  and  loving,  learn  thy  God  to  trust. 
And  He  will  shed  upon  thy  soul  the  blessings  of  the  just." 

Twenty  years  had  passed  away  since 
William  Lloyd  Garrison,  a  poor  and  unknown 
youth,  had  set  up  his  printing-press  in  a 
gloomy  garret  in  Boston  and  began  to 
publish  the  Liberator,  his  an ti- slavery  paper. 
Week  after  week,  he  had  worked  on  patiendy, 


rJaiJUNG  FOR  FREEDOM.  93 

saying  to  himself,  "  I  am  in  earnest ;  I  will  be 
heard  "  ;  and  by-and-by  the  people  of  Amer- 
ica were  compelled  to  listen.  Slave-owners 
began  to  fear  the  little  paper  which  spoke  so 
bravely  against  the  crime  of  slavery,  and  so 
pitifully  of  the  sorrows  of  the  slaves.  They 
tried  to  stop  it  and  crush  its  sale,  but  in  vain. 
People  only  began  to  read  the  paper  the 
more,  and  to  talk  about  it.  It  could  no 
longer  be  said  that  people  were  ignorant  or 
silent  about  slavery,  for  the  once  feeble  cry 
from  that  poor,  dark  room  began  to  ring 
through  the  land.  Then  a  few  men  joined 
Garrison  in  Boston  and  formed  an  anti- 
slavery  society ;  and  then,  in  other  cities, 
two  or  three  more  followed  their  example 
and,  fearless  of  threats,  upheld  the  unpop- 
ular cause. 

In  the  year  1845,  when  Theodore  Parker 
left  his  quiet  country  home  and  work  in  the 
village  of  West  Roxbury  for  the  wider  inter- 
ests of  city  life  in  Boston,  Garrison  became 
known  to  him  ;  and  just  about  the  same 
time  events  took  place  in  America  which 
helped  to  turn  his  thoughts  to  the  struggle 
against   slavery   which    Garrison   was  living 


94 


THEODORE  PARKER, 


to  uphold.  For  in  that  same  year,  1845,  ^^ 
i^reat  waste  lands  of  Texas  were  to  be  added 
to  the  United  States,  and  the  question  arose, 
Was  this  new  State  to  be  a  Slave  State  or  a 
free  one  ? 

Theodore  Parker's  religion  was  not  a  reli- 
gion of  creeds.  He  thought  that  men  must 
not  only  believe  in  God  :  they  must  also 
"  do  justly  and  love  mercy."  He  knew  that 
sooner  or  later  the  question  must  be  settled 
whether  America  should  be  a  free  empire  or 
a  slave  empire  ;  and  if  a  handful  of  earnest 
people,  by  their  earnestness  and  influence 
could  help  to  incline  a  nation  towards  right 
deeds,  he  must  be  one  of  the  handful.  So 
he  made  up  his  mind  that  life  and  strength 
must  be  given  by  him,  if  need  be,  to  this 
struggle  against  slavery;  and  while  most 
other  preachers  did  not  dare  to  speak  of  this 
subject  in  their  churches,  to  him  it  often 
seemed  there  could  be  no  better  lesson  for 
the  day. 

One  morning  in  the  year  1846  a  ship  from 
New  Orleans,  where  slave-holders  abounded, 
sailed  into  Boston  Harbor.  Boston  men 
owned  the  ship  and    Boston   sailors  formed 


FIGHTING  FOR  FREEDOM. 


95 


her  crew.  The  sun  shone  brightly  on  the 
white  sails,  as  If  to  welcome  her  return  home  ; 
and  the  sailors,  glad  to  reach  their  own  shores, 
sprang  joyfully  on  land.  From  the  ship's 
hold  crawled  a  poor,  wretched  slave,  half 
dead  with  fear  and  hunger.  He  had  hidden 
himself  away  in  that  dark  hole  to  escape  from 
his  master  in  New  Orleans,  and  hoped  he 
should  be  set  free  if  once  on  Boston  soil, 
where  no  slaves  were  kept.  But  the  poor 
fellow  was  mistaken.  The  sailors  went  to 
their  own  homes  and  were  welcomed  by  glad 
wives  and  happy  children.  The  sun  might 
shine  on  free  and  happy  Boston,  but  the 
miserable  slave  was  sent  back  to  slavery  by 
the  Boston  owners  o^  the  ship. 

Now  was  a  time  when  indeed  Boston  must 
be  roused  !  Garrison's  patient  work  for  so 
many  years  had  not  been  in  vain.  His 
Liberator  had  prepared  the  way,  and  when 
Theodore  Parker  joined  with  him  to  summon 
a  huge  town  meeting  in  Faneuil  Hall  and 
called  together  a  Vigilance  Committee  to 
guard  that  such  an  outrage  should  never 
disgrace  the  city  again,  then  the  people  of 
Boston  answered  with  a  will,  and  the  great 
hall  was  packed  from  floor  to  roof. 


96  THEODORE  PARKER, 

Hundreds  of  men  never  forgfot  the  noble, 
eloquent  words  they  heard  from  Theodore 
Parker  that  night.  But  his  speech  called 
forth  the  rage  of  the  friends  of  slavery.  They 
mocked  at  the  **  higher  law  of  love"  which 
he  said  forbade  the  custom  of  slavery  per- 
mitted by  the  law  of  the  land,  and  they 
accused  him  of  overthrowing  the  teachings 
of  the  Bible  when  he  proclaimed  the  crime 
of  making  human  beings  into  slaves.  The 
newspapers  had  bitter  words  against  him, 
and  Boston  merchants,  who  lived  by  means 
of  slave-growm  cotton,  upheld  a  strong  party 
against  this  handful  of  workers  for  the  cause 
of  freedom. 

There  is  a  grand  old  story  that  tells  how 
an  angry  king,  long  years  ago,  went  forth  into 
the  lonely  desert  to  rebuke  a  brave  prophet 
who  was  trying  to  rouse  the  Jewish  people 
to  believe  in  a  truer  religion  than  they  had 
known  before,  and  the  first  words  of  the  king 
were:  "Art  thou  he  that  troubleth  Israel?" 
Whenever  a  new  teacher  wakens  the  minds 
of  men  to  higher  light,  then  the  old  spirits  of 
the  king  and  the  prophet  meet  face  to  face 
once  more,  and  the  prophet  is  blamed  for  the 


.     FIGHTING  FOR  FREEDOM.  97 

loss  of  the  old  false  peace  In  which  the  world 
lay  before  he  began  to  speak. 

So  when  Theodore  Parker  preached  his 
doctrine  of  inspiration,  or  when  he  spoke 
against  slavery,  it  was  said  that  he  troubled 
America.  But  the  real  troubler  in  that  case, 
as  in  every  other  such  case,  was  the  spirit  that 
was  content  with  old  ways,  and  would  not 
waken  to  the  new  gleams  of  light  that  dawned 
upon  the  earth. 

Now,  one  reason  why  Theodore  Parker 
had  the  spirit  of  the  old  prophet,  and  not 
that  of  the  king,  was  because  he  always 
kept  before  his  view  a  great  principle,  by 
which  he  tried  to  rule  all  his  acts.  Just  as, 
when  a  boy,  he  had  vowed  to  be  and  do 
and  say  the  very  best  he  knew ;  so  now  that 
he  was  a  man  the  same  wish  was  strong 
within  him,  and  he  would  take  no  course, 
however  trifling,  but  that  which  he  felt  to 
be  the  most  right  and  true.  Whenever  he 
met  with  any  who  thus  tried  to  rule  his  life 
by  such  a  guiding  principle,  such  an  one 
became  a  hero  and  a  leader  to  Theodore 
Parker.  History  gave  him  many  examples 
of  this  kind  ;  others  he  found  among  people 


98  THEODORE  PARKER. 

living  in  his  own  day.  In  his  study  was 
the  portrait  of  such  a  leader.  This  was  a 
statesman,  named  Daniel  Webster,  whom 
Boston  then  sent  as  her  representative  to 
Congress.  This  man  Theodore  Parker  hon- 
ored because  he  believed  him  to  be  true  and 
honest,  living  to  help  forward  whatever  was 
right  and  just,  with  no  thought  for  his  own 
gain  or  loss  in  the  matter. 

But  one  morning  Theodore  took  down 
this  man's  portrait  from  his  study  wall,  and, 
kissing  it  sadly,  he  turned  it  away  where 
he  could  no  longer  see  the  once  much-loved 
face.  What  had  happened  ?  That  day 
America  was  ringing  with  terrible  news. 
A  bill  had  been  passed  in  Congress,  called 
the  "Fugitive  Slave  Bill."  This  bill  decreed 
that  any  slave  fleeing  from  his  owner  Into 
a  Free  State  might  be  pursued  and  carried 
back  into  slavery.  Moreover,  it  announced 
that  any  one  who  gave  shelter  In  a  Free 
State  to  a  slave  thus  hiding,  would  be 
liable  to  a  fine  of  $1,000  and  six  months' 
imprisonment.  Now  there  seemed  small 
chance  of  safety  for  slaves  In  any  part  of 
the  United  States ;  and  Daniel  Webster  had 


FIGHTING  FOR  FREEDOM.  99 

been  the  chief  supporter  of  this  bill  ! 
Theodore  knew  that  his  fallen  hero  had 
acted  thus  to  please  the  pro-slavery  men 
and  gain  their  votes  for  his  election  as 
future  President. 

The  following  Sunday  the  Melodeon  was 
crowded  as  usual.  In  his  sermon  Theodore 
Parker  spoke  of  the  new  Fugutive  Slave 
Bill.  No  doubt  his  hearers  knew  beforehand 
how  strongly  he  would  speak  against  the 
injustice  of  the  law.  But  a  great  awe  fell 
upon  the  crowd  when  he  said  that  at  the 
first  chance  he  should  break  this  new  law ! 
For  some  moments  there  was  silence  through 
the  hall.  Plainly  here  was  a  man  who 
dared  be  true  to  his  conscience  in  deed 
as  well  as  in  word.  Then  what  was  best 
deep  down  in  his  hearers'  souls  answered 
to  his  words,  and  the  silence  was  broken 
by  a  great  outburst  of  cheers. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

*'A    HERO    IN    THE    STRIFE." 

Among  the  people  who  used  to  worship 
each  Sunday  in  the  Melodeon  were  a  carpen- 
ter and  his  wife  —  WilHam  and  Ellen  Craft. 
They  had  a  nice  little  home  in  Boston, 
where  they  had  lived  for  many  years.  Theo- 
dore Parker  knew  them  well,  and  went  often 
to  see  them  in  their  own  house,  and 
welcomed  them  gladly  when  they  came  to 
visit  him.  He  knew  the  sad  story  of  their 
past  lives,  but  it  was  a  secret  from  other 
people  in  Boston.  Years  ago  they  had  been 
held  as  slaves  (for  they  had  a  little  negro 
blood  in  their  veins)  by  a  cruel  master  in 
one  of  the  Southern  States.  They  had  man- 
aged to  escape  from  slavery,  and  had  fled 
a  distance  of  nine  hundred  miles,  hiding  in 
swamps  and  passing  through  unknown  lands 
till  they  found  a  resting-place  in  Boston  in 
the  Free  State  of  Massachusetts.  There  they 
had    lived    peaceful,   hard-working   lives   till 


''A  HERO  IN  THE  STRIFEr  lOI 

one  dreadful  day  in  1850,  soon  after  die 
Fugitive  Slave  Bill  had  passed  Congress. 
That  day  Theodore  Parker,  who  had  been 
lecturing  in  a  distant  town,  came  home  late. 
Then  he  heard  that  slave-hunters  were  in 
the  city  searching  for  his  friends,  William 
and  Ellen  Craft. 

Now  came  the  first  chance  for  him  to 
break  the  wicked  new  law.  If  he  would  love 
his  neighbor  as  himself,  he  must  save  his 
neighbor  from  being  carried  off  as  a  slave. 
No  time  was  to  be  lost.  That  riieht  he  took 
the  poor  woman  into  his  own  house,  and 
wrote  his  next  Sunday's  sermon  with  a  loaded 
pistol  on  his  desk.  Nor  did  his  work  end 
here.  Venturing  still  further,  he  sought  out 
the  slave-hunters  in  their  hotel,  and  scared 
them  by  his  scornful  words  right  out  of  Bos- 
ton. Before  many  days  were  over,  William 
and  Ellen  Craft  were  sailing  over  the  Atlantic 
Ocean  to  a  safe  refuge  in  England. 

Not  long  afterwards  another  slave  named 
Anthony  Burns,  who  had  sought  refuge  in 
Boston,  was  seized  and  shut  up  in  the  court- 
house of  the  city  at  the  time  Theodore  Par- 
ker was  saying  good-bye  to  some  dear  old 
friends  who  were  about  to  sail  for  Europe. 


I02  THEODORE  PARKER. 

"  I  doubt  if  they  will  ever  see  me  again," 
he  wrote  in  his  journal;  *'for  I  must  not  let 
a  fu<Tfitive  slave  be  carried  out  of  Boston,  cost 
what  it  may.  I  will  not  use  weapons  to  rescue 
a  man,  but  I  will  go  unarmed  wherever  a 
reasonable  chance  of  success  offers,  and  1 
will  make  a  rescue."  Then  he  made  his  way 
to  the  slave-pen  in  the  court-house,  and  put- 
ting his  hand  into  that  of  the  despairing  man, 
bade  him  have  courage  for  help  was  at  hand. 

That  night  another  great  meeting  was  held 
in  Faneuil  Hall.  There  Theodore  Parker's 
words  made  many  hearts  beat  quickly  ;  for 
he  called  on  the  men  who  heard  him  to  go 
quickly  with  only  the  arms  God  gave  them 
to  rescue  this  poor  slave.  *'  Men  and  breth- 
ren," he  cried,  "  I  am  not  a  young  man. 
I  have  heard  cheers  for  liberty  many  times, 
but  I  have  not  seen  many  deeds  done  for 
liberty.  I  ask  you.  Are  we  to  have  deeds  as 
well  as  words?  Be  sure  the  men  who  kidnap 
a  man  in  Boston  are  cowards,  every  mother's 
son  of  them  ;  and  if  we  stand  up  and  declare 
this  man  shall  not  go  out  of  the  City  of 
Boston  without  shooting  a  gun,  then  he 
won't  go  back," 


"^  HERO  IN  THE  STRIFES  103 

In  that  great  meeting,  men  were  moved  to 
right  deeds  by  Theodore  Parker's  earnestness. 
There  was  a  great  rush  to  the  court-house  to 
rescue  the  imprisoned  slave.  But  a  report  of 
the  meeting  in  Faneuil  Hall  had  spread 
abroad,  and  soldiers  were  sent  down  to  guard 
the  court-house.  The  attempted  rescue  failed. 
Next  day  Anthony  Burns  was  carried  down  to 
the  harbor  by  a  strong  guard ;  but  the  Vigi- 
lance Committee  hung  with  black  the  Boston 
streets  through  which  he  passed. 

Theodore  Parker's  promise  of  help  to  the 
slave,  Anthony  Burns,  did  not  end  thus.  A 
sum  of  money  was  raised,  with  which  to  buy 
him  from  his  owners.  He  was  sent  to  college, 
and  the  dull,  crushed  mind  slowly  wakened 
up.  In  course  of  time  he  w^as  able  to  write 
to  Theodore  Parker,  who  had  never  lost  sight 
of  him,  and  had  sent  him  every  now  and  then 
words  of  kindly  help.  The  letter  told  how 
his  thoughts  went  back  to  the  day  in  the  Bos- 
ton court-house,  when  this  brave  friend  was 
not  afraid  to  push  his  way  into  the  slave-pen, 
and  take  the  hand  of  the  runaway,  friendless 
slave. 

Such   were    some  of   the  ways    in   which 


I04  THEODORE  PARKER. 

Theodore  Parker  helped  the  cause  of  freedom 
in  America.  No  time  was  left  now  for  quiet 
study,  and  the  hope,  which  had  been  so  dear 
to  him,  of  writing  a  book  on  the  growth  of 
religion,  died  away.  Longer  and  more  fre- 
quent journeys  must  be  taken.  Sometimes 
he  went  to  lecture  against  slavery  into  the 
very  Slave  States  themselves.  He  feared  no 
danger  while  about  his  duty,  and  asked  not 
whether  he  was  among  enemies  or  friends. 

One  night,  while  on  one  of  these  journeys, 
he  was  present  at  a  great  meeting  of  the 
friends  of  slavery.  He  stood  in  a  closely 
packed  gallery,  and  looked  down  upon  the 
excited  crowd  below.  Not  knowing  that  he 
was  there  to  answer  him,  one  of  the  speakers 
ended  his  speech  by  saying :  — 

*'  I  should  like  to  know  what  Theodore 
Parker  would  say  to  that  !  " 

The  hall  was  filled  with  men  who  upheld 
slavery,  and  who  were  ready  to  lay  violent 
hands  on  any  one  who  opposed  their  views. 
Theodore  knew  this  well ;  but  he  loved  justice 
and  right  more  than  he  loved  his  life,  and  he 
cried  out  with  a  clear  strong  voice :  — 

''Would  you  like  to  know?     I'll  tell  you 


''A  HERO  IN  THE  STRIFE."  105 

what  Theodore  Parker  says  to  It ;  "  and  then 
he  spoke  out  bravely  in  defence  of  freedom 
for  the  slaves. 

That  was  the  signal  for  a  riot.  The  excited 
people  knew  then  who  he  vv^as,  and  shouted 
out  his  name  with  cries  of:  "  Kill  him  !  Kill 
him  !      Throw  him  over  !  " 

It  seemed  as  if  nothing  could  save  him 
Irom  their  fury,  when,  wonderful  to  tell,  he 
calmed  the  raging  crowd  by  his  voice  and 
quiet,  resolute  bearing. 

"■  You  will  do  no  such  thing,"  the  people 
felt,  rather  than  heard,  him  say  —  ''You  will 
do  no  such  thing,  and  I  will  tell  you  what 
I  say  to  this  matter." 

So  his  courage  and  calmness  quelled  the 
tumult,  and  in  the  midst  of  slave-owners 
and  upholders  of  slavery,  he  gained  a  hear- 
ing for  the  truths  he  had  to  tell. 

More  than  one  such  event  as  this  hap- 
pened. Truly,  he  was  giving  up  life  and 
strength  in  the  struggle,  and  far  and  wide, 
wherever  the  great  question  of  freedom  or 
slavery  arose,  Theodore  Parker's  name  was 
heard.  Into  the  White  House  at  Washing- 
ton,   where    sat   the   President,  Millard  Fill- 


I06  THEODORE  PARKER. 

more,  who  had  signed  the  Fugitive  Slave 
Bill,  came  his  stirring  v^ords.  He  wrote  the 
President  a  letter,  telling  him  that  when 
fugitive  slaves  came  to  his  own  door  seeking 
help,  he  could  not  forget  the  words  of 
Christ :  "  Inasmuch  as  ye  have  not  done 
it  unto  one  of  the  least  of  these,  ye  have  not 
done  it  unto  me."  Therefore,  though  fine 
and  prison  waited  for  him,  he  must  help 
such  men  in  their  trouble  ;  he  must  rever- 
ence the  laws  of  God  ;  come  what  may,  he 
must  be  true  to  his  religion. 

It  is  easy  to  fancy  the  life  of  peril  and 
excitement  that  Theodore  Parker  lived.  But 
through  all,  the  quieter  duties  of  life  were 
not  forgotten,  and  by  words  and  deeds  he 
taught  that  a  high  ideal  may  glorify  any 
work,  however  humble,  and  that  a  life 
unknown  to  the  world  may  be  made  great 
and  holy  by  gentleness  and  truth.  So  he 
had  help  and  comfort  to  give  the  multitudes 
who  flocked  to  him,  in  the  Music  Hall,  from 
the  weary  ways  and  hidden  paths  of  the  city, 
while  he  was  fighting  with  all  his  might  the 
wickedness  in  the  high  places  of  the  earth. 

Towards  the  end  of  the   year    1854,    the 


*'yl  HERO  IN  THE  STRIEE^ 


107 


results  of  his  struggle  against  slavery  came 
upon  him.  He  had  broken  the  Fugitive 
Slave  Law,  he  had  hidden  slaves  in  his 
house,  and  he  had  helped  many  others  to 
escape.  He  had  spoken  brave  words 
against  the  law  of  the  land  whenever  he  had 
a  chance  to  do  so.  "What  shall  I  do,"  he 
asked  himself,  ''if  I  am  sent  to  gaol?"  This 
was  his  reply:  ''I  will  write  one  sermon  a 
week  and  have  it  read  in  the  Music  Hall, 
and  printed  next  morning.  But  who  shall 
read  it?"  Who  could  take  his  place  and 
win  the  hearing  of  three  thousand  people? 
Yet  his  words  must  not  fail  to  go  forth,  for 
now  they  were  carried  far  and  wide  over 
America;  and  even  across  the  ocean  people 
learned  the  lessons  that  he  taught  each 
Sunday  in  the  Boston  Music  Hall. 

The  evening  before  Thanksgiving  Day  he 
sat  in  his  study.  A  stranger  asked  leave  to 
speak  to  him,  and  was  shown  in. 

''  I  have  come  to  arrest  you,  Mr.  Parker," 
said  the  man,  showing  his  warrant,  and  Theo- 
dore went  with  him  through  the  streets  of 
Boston  to  the  court-house.  His  trial  was 
fixed  for   the  first  Monday  in  April.     Three 


I08  THEODORE  PARKER. 

bondsmen  were  easily  found  for  him,  and 
meanwhile  for  a  few  months  he  was  a  free 
man.  On  the  last  night  of  that  year,  1854, 
he  wrote  this  prayer :  — 

**  O  Thou  Spirit  who  rulest  the  Universe, 
seeing  the  end  from  the  beginning,  I  thank 
Thee  for  all  opportunities  of  usefulness  which 
Thou  hast  afforded,  for  all  manifold  delights 
which  have  clustered  round  my  path.  But 
how  little  have  I  grown,  how  little  done ! 
Inspire  me  to  do  more,  to  become  nobler  in 
the  purpose  and  motive  of  my  life.  Help 
me  to  resist  new  temptation,  and  do  the  new 
duties  which  the  year  brings  with  it.  I  know 
not  what  a  day  may  bring  forth — bonds  or 
shame  —  perhaps  a  goal.  Help  me  every- 
where to  be  faithful  to  Thee,  so  may  I  love 
and  serve  my  brethren  more ;  yet  still  may  I 
love  mine  enemies,  even  as  Thou  sendest 
rain  on  the  just  and  on  the  unjust." 

Spring  came,  and  Theodore  Parker's  trial 
was  held  in  the  court-house.  But  it  did  not 
proceed,  for  no  case  was  proved  against  him. 

*' Mr.  Parker,"  said  the  Judge,  "you  have 
only  crept  through  a  knot-hole."  And  Par- 
ker answered :  **  I  '11  knock  a  bigger  hole 
next  time." 


"yl  HERO  IN  THE  STRIFE."  109 

But  no  such  trial  was  ever  held  again  in 
Boston,  and  another  record  stood  forever  of 
a  man  who  held  firm  to  what  was  right, 
rather  than  to  what  was  worldly-wise  and 
safe. 

Those  days  which  called  forth  Theodore 
Parker's  bravery  are  over,  and  probably  the 
fierce  civil  war  which  followed  them  might 
have  been  spared  if  every  man  had  been  as 
true  to  the  right  as  he  was.  Slaves  are  no 
longer  bought  or  sold  in  America,  or  cap- 
tured in  the  streets  of  Boston,  and  even  the 
memory  of  such  evil  deeds  may  die  away. 
But  the  fact  remains,  that  there  is  always 
some  battle  to  be  fought  for  the  right ;  and 
whether  old  or  young,  we  need  in  our  lives 
the  spirit  that  made  Theodore  Parker  what 
he  was  and  would  have  made  him  true  and 
noble,  whatever  his  work  had  been. 

For  about  three  years  longer  he  thus 
worked  on,  and  wore  life  and  strength  away. 
Friends  besought  him  to  rest,  but  he  only 
answered  in  such  words  as  these:  "  I  must 
work  while  it  is  day.  God  has  entrusted  me 
with  certain  powers,  and  I  must  use  them  for 
my  fellow-men.     I  come  of  a  long-lived  stock, 


I  I O  THE  OD  ORE  PARKER. 

and  hope  with  care  to  survive  ;  but  it  matters 
little  whether  I  go  through  or  go  under,  if  I 
do  my  duty  as. I  ought." 

At  length  strength  failed,  and  journeys  and 
lectures  and  other  work  must  end,  for  he 
quite  broke  down.  His  illness  was  the  signal 
for  a  fresh  outbreak  of  wrath  against  his  re- 
ligious views,  and  meetings  were  held,  and 
sermons  preached,  and  prayers  offered  against 
this  Boston  heretic.  Theodore  Parker  was 
no  longer  the  almost  unknown  young  man 
he  had  been  when  he  first  roused  the  Boston 
world  by  the  first  sermon  he  preached  in  the 
city.  Now  his  sermons  were  read  by  tens  of 
thousands ;  his  words  were  carried  over  the 
land,  and  he  was  the  leader  of  reformers. 
But  the  lion  at  length  lay  powerless. 

So,  as  he  lay  stricken  down  with  hemor- 
rhage of  the  lungs,  the  churches  of  Boston 
busied  themselves  against  him  and  his  here- 
sies :  but  thousands  of  people  mourned  for 
him  as  their  friend  and  helper  ;  and  messages 
and  inquiries  came  crowding  into  his  sick- 
room. On  January  2,  1859,  he  had  preached 
for  the  last  time  in  the  Music  Hall,  and  his 
subject  had  been  "  On  what  Religion  can  do 


''A  HERO  IN  THE  STRIFE."  i  i  i 

for  a  Man."  A  week  after,  a  short  note  was 
all  he  could  send  to  the  people  assembled  in 
the  hall.  The  doctors  gave  little  hope  that 
his  life  could  be  spared.  Another  voyage  to 
Europe  was  the  last  chance;  and  it  was 
settled  that  in  a  month's  time  he  should  sail, 
if  his  strength  would  permit.  Meantime, 
farewell  messages  went  in  and  out  of  the 
quiet  room  where  he  lay ;  and  among  his  last 
short  notes,  was  one  of  thanks  to  Dr.  Fran- 
cis, for  all  the  help  he  had  received  from  him 
long  years  ago,  when  he  was  a  friendless 
youth  fighting  the  battle  of  life  in  Water- 
town. 


CHAPTER  X. 

THE   LAST   VOYAGE. 

It  was  no  mournful  company  that  set  sail 
with  Theodore  Parker  in  a  few  weeks'  time. 
His  wife,  and  the  three  friends  who  went 
with  him,  could  not  despair  while  he  was  so 
full  of  hope  and  courage.  As  he  lay  on  the 
deck  of  the  steamer  day  after  day,  with  only 
sea  and  sky  around  him  as  far  as  eye  could 
reach,  his  thoughts  went  back  over  the  past 
years  which  had  by  degrees  led  him  into  a 
life  so  full  of  work;  and  he  longed  to  find 
strength  for  new  duties  ere  he  died.  He 
often  spoke  of  the  poor  people  in  Boston, 
and  the  sad  homes  he  had  been  used  to 
visit,  where  illness  and  trouble  were:  but 
always  he  was  serene  and  cheerful. 

At  length  they  landed  at  Santa  Cruz,  in  the 
West  Indies,  and  there  he  gained  strength 
enough  to  take  walks,  and  enjoy  the  new 
scenes  and  flowers,  and  to  write  letters  to  the 
anxious  friends  at  home.     After  this  they 


THE  LAST  VOYAGE.  I  13 

visited  England  and  France  and  Switzerland. 
For  several  weeks  they  made  their  home  on 
the  hillside  of  Lake  Geneva.  Sunny  meadows 
lay  round  them,  and  the  gleaming  lake  below, 
while  beyond  its  blue  waters  rose  the  distant 
snow-covered  mountains,  with  their  peaks 
cutting  the  summer  clouds.  The  bracing  air 
gave  him'  new  vigor,  and  there  seemed  sure 
ground  for  hope  that  he  might  go  back  to 
America  strong  and  well. 

But  in  August  the  cold  winds  began  to 
blow,  and  it  was  needful  to  travel  further 
south.  So  the  little  party  went  to  Italy.  In 
Rome,  old  and  new  friends  gathered  round 
Theodore  Parker,  and  he  was  the  life  of  the 
circle.  Suddenly,  however,  a  change  for  the 
worst  showed  itself:  the  strength  he  had 
gained  left  him  as  weak  as  he  had  been 
before  he  sailed  frof  home.  Swiftly  the 
news  spread  to  England  and  America,  and 
there  was  widespread  sorrow  felt. 

By  slow  degrees  he  was  removed  to  Flor- 
ence. For  days  as  he  lay  in  the  beautiful 
city  his  thoughts  wandered  away  to  his  home 
and  work.  "  Come,  Bearsie,"  he  said  to  his 
wife   sometimes,    **  let   us    go   and   see   our 


114 


THEODORE  PARKER. 


friends."  Sometimes  he  would  ask,  "When 
is  the  vessel  going?  Will  it  not  go  soon?" 
At  other  times  everything  was  clear  to  him, 
and  he  knew  then  that  the  end  was  near. 
Sadly  he  said  one  morning  to  a  friend :  "I 
am  not  afraid  to  die  :  but  there  is  much  to 
do.  I  have  had  great  powers  given  to  me, 
and  I  have  but  half  used  them."  But  one 
strange  thought  gave  him  comfort,  and  he 
told  it  in  these  words:  ''There  are  two 
Theodore  Parkers  —  one  dying  in  Italy,  and 
the  other  I  have  planted  in  America  !  " 

Perhaps  he  did  not  know  how  true  this 
saying  was.  The  influence  he  had  sown  in 
America  is  bearing  fruit  to  this  day;  and 
even  we,  who  now  read  this  story,  may  learn 
from  him  to  try  to  be  and  do  and  say  the 
very  best  we  can.  A  great  river  can  be 
traced  back  along  its  winding  course  to  the 
tiny  mountain  brook  from  which  it  rose.  So 
with  a  noble  life  ;  and  as  we  look  back  over 
the  story  of  Theodore  Parker,  we  see  in  its 
beginning  the  figure  of  a  boy  by  a  sunny 
farm-yard  pond,  listening  to  and  obeying  the 
first  whisper  of  conscience,  and  find  there 
the  original  impulse  from  which  his  after 
greatness  sprang. 


THE  LAST  VOTAGE. 


115 


The  last  day  of  his  life  drew  near — the 
loth  of  May,  i860.  At  times  he  sent  loving 
messages  to  his  far  distant  friends;  leav- 
ing his  wife  for  comfort  to  their  tender 
care.  His  great  library  he  bequeathed  to 
the  city   of  Boston  —  a    free  gift. 

''  Lay  down  your  head  upon  my  pillow, 
Bearsie,"  he  said  to  his  wife,  "  for  you  have 
not  slept  for  a  long  time."  And  so,  with 
flowers  about  him,  and  filled  with  a  great 
peace,  Theodore  Parker  passed  away. 


THE   END. 


— — 

^= 

1 

1 

^^^H 

1 

1 

Ej,^^  ^Vjiiiji^^ 

i^^E 

A    LIST    OF    BOOKS 

PUBLISHED   BY 


CUPPLES,  UPHAM  &  CO., 

283  WASHINGTON    STREET,   BOSTON. 


ANDREW.     The  Errors  of  Prohibition.     An  Argument  on 

the  Matter  of   License   and  Prohibition.     By  the  late  John  A.  Andrew, 
(ji)veriior  of  Massacliusetts.     Paper.     8vo.     50  cents.      Tenth  thousand. 

ATKINSON.    Our  National  Domain:   A  Graphical  and  Sta- 
tistical  Chart.      By  Edward  Atkinson.      Printed  in  colors  and   enclosed 
between  handsome  board  covers.     50  cents. 
^^  It  can  be  obtained,  if  desired,  mounted  on  rollers  and  varnished,  suitable 

for  hanging  on  the  wall.     Price,  $1.25. 

ATKINSON.    What  is  a  Bank  ?    What  Service  does  a  Bank 

Perform  ?     By  Edward  Atkinson.     8vo.     Pamphlet.     25  cents. 

ATKINSON,  Edward.  The  Railroads  of  the  United  States: 
their  Effects  on  Farming  and  Production  in  that  Country  and  Great 
Britain.     By  Edward  Atkinson.     8vo.     Pamphlet,  with  cliart.     50  cents. 

ATKINSON.  Comparative  Geography:  the  Area  of  the  Po- 
litical Divisions  of  the  world  shown  graphically  in  colors.  By  Ed- 
ward Atkinson.     On  roller.     For  the  use  of  schools.     I3.00.     In  preparation. 

ATWATER'S   History  of  the   Colony  of  New  Haven.     8vo. 

61  r  pp.     ;if4.oo. 

BAILEY.     The  Book  of  Ensilage;  or,  the  New  Dispensation 
for  Farmers.     By  John  M.  Bailey.     8vo.     Cloth.     202  pages.     Portrait  and 
illustrations.     $1.00.      Paper,  50  cents. 
%*  A  work  of  incalculable  importance  to  the  farmer,  treating  the  new  system  of 

feedins;  cattle. 

BATES.  "Risk,"  and  other  Poems.  By  Charlotte  Fiskb 
Bates,  editor  of  the  "Longfellow  Birthday  Book."    i6mo.    Red  edges.    $1.00. 

Little  Classic  style. 

*#*  "  Crystallizations  of  subtle  thoughts  and  fancies."  —  Johjt  G.  IVhitiicr. 

BIGELOW^.  Litholapaxy  or  Rapid  Lithotrity  with  Evacua- 
tion.    By  Henry  J.  BiGiiLow,  M.D.     8vo.     Cloth.     Illustrated.     ^1.00. 

BOTH.  Small-Pox.  The  Predisposing  Conditions,  and  their 
Prevention.     By  Dr.  Carl  Both.     izmo.     Paper.     50  pages.    Price,  25  cents. 

BOTH.     Consumption.     By  Dr.  Carl  Both.    8vo.     Cloth.    ^2.00. 


BOWDITCH.  Cuffok  Surnames.  (Surnames  of  Suffolk  County, 
Massacluiselts.)  liy  Nathaniel  Inc.eksoll  Buwditch.  bvo.  Cloth.  383 
pages.     ;J52.oo.     Second  edition,  enlarged. 

BOYCE.    The  Art  of  Lettering,  and  Sign  Painter's  Manual. 

A  (Complete  and  Practical  Illustration  of  the  Art  of  Sign-Painiing.  Oblong  4to. 
By  A.  P.  BoYCE.     36  plain  and  colored  plates.     {^3.50.     Fourth  edition. 

BOYCE.      Modern    Ornamentor  and    Interior    Decorator.     A 

Complete  and  Practical  Illustration  of  the  Art  of  Scroll,  Arabesque,  and  Orna- 
mental Painting.  By  A.  P.  B(jvce.  Oblong  4to.  22  plain  and  colored  plates. 
Cloth.     J3.50. 

BUTTS.     Tinman's  Manual,  and   Builder's  and  Mechanics' 

Handbook,  desitrned  for  Tinmen,  Japanners,  Coppersmiths,  Engineers,  Mechan- 
ic;, Builders,  Wheelwrights,  Smiths,  Masons,  &c.  Sixth  edition.  i2nio. 
Cloth.      120  pages      %\.2o. 

BUTTS.      The   New  Business-Man's  Assistant,   and   Ready 

Reckoner,  for  the  use  of  the  Merchant,  Mechanic,  and   Farmer,  consistmg  of 
Legal    Forms    and    Instructions  indispensable  in   Business   Tr.insactions,   and 
a  great  variety  of  Useful  Tables.     By  I.  R.  Butts,     i  vol.     i2mo.     132  pages. 
50  cents. 
*♦*  It  would  be  difficult  to  find  a  more  comprehensive  manual  for  every-day  use, 

than  this  valuable  Assistant. 

CAPE  COD  FOLKS.  A  Novel.  Illustrated,  izmo.  Cloth.  $1.50. 
%*  A  powerfully  written  story,  depicting  the  characteristics  of  a  class  conspicuous 

the  world  over  for  keenness,  originality,  and  humor. 

CHANDLER.      A    Bicycle    Tour    in    England.      By    A.   D. 

Chandlek.     r  vol.     Small  4to.     In  preparation. 

*■»*  Full  of  views  of  out-of-the-way  nooks,   castles,   country  seats,  unsurpassed 
for  clearness  and  beauty. 
CUPPLES.    The  Deserted  Ship  :  a  Story  of  the  Atlantic.    By 

Geo.  CUPPLES,  author  of  "  The  Green  Hand."    Illustrated.   i2mo.  ifi-so.    Fotirth 

edition. 

CUPPLES.     Driven  to  Sea;    or,  the  Adventures  of  Norrie 

Seton.  By  Mrs.  George  Cupples.  Illustrated.  i2mo.  Cloth.  ^1.50. 
Second  thousand. 

CUPPLES.     Singular  Creatures;  or,  Stories  from  a  Scotch 

Parish.    By  Mrs.  George  Cupples-    Illustrated.    i2mo.    Cloth,    jfi.50.    Second 

thousand. 

•#*"The  tenderness  and  humor  of  the  volume  are  simply  exquisite."— jE.  A 
Whipple. 
DERBY.    Anthracite  and  Health.    By  Geo.  Derby,  M.D.    Harv. 

i2mo.     76  pages.     Cloth,  limp.     50  cents.     Second  edition,  enlarged. 

DES  CARS.  A  Treatise  on  Pruning  of  Fruit  and  Orna- 
mental Trees.  Translated  by  C.  S.  Sargent  (Harvard).  Engravings.  lamo. 
Cloth.      7";  cents. 

DIRECTORY  OF  BOSTON  CHARITABLE  INSTITU- 
TIONS.    i2mo.     Cloth.     182  pages.     50  cents,  net. 

DRAKE.  Memorials  of  the  Society  of  the  Cincinnati  of  Mas- 
sachusetts. By  F.  S.  Drake.  Royal  8vo.  Cloth.  584  pages.  Many  steel 
engravings.     1^13.00  net. 

ELLIS.    The  Evacuation  of  Boston,  with  a  Chronicle  of  the 

Siege.    By  Ghorch  E.  Ellis,  LL.D.,  author  of  "The  Life  of  Count  Rumford," 

&c.,  &c.      With   steel   engravings,  full-page   heliotype  /ac-stmilest   maps,   &c. 

I  vol.,  imperial  Bvo.     $3.00. 

*,*  A  monument  of  historical  research  and  industry.     Only  a  few  copies  now 
remain. 
FIRST    HELP    IN    ACCIDENTS    AND    SICKNESS.     A 

Guide  in  tiie  absence  or  before  tlie  arrival  of  Medical  Assistance.     Illustrated 

with  numerous  cuts.     lamo.     Cloth.     2^5  pages-     #1.^0. 

"  A  very  useful  book,  devoid  of  the  quackery  which  characterizes  so  many  of  the 
health  manuals."  —  Atn   Med.  Ob. 


FIRST  LESSONS  IN  THE  ARTICLES  OF  OUR  FAITH, 

And  Questions  upon  Our  Church  Doctrines,  and  upon  the  Life  of 
Christ,  with  their  Answers  from  Scripture.  For  young  learners.  With 
introduction  by  Rev.  Phillips  Brooks,  D.D.     2  vols.     Boards.     70  cents. 

FISHER.  Plain  Talk  About  Insanity.  Its  Causes,  Forms,  Symp- 
toir.s,  and  Treatment  of  Mental  Diseases.  With  Remarks  on  Hospitals,  Asylums, 
and  the  Medico-Legal  Aspect  of  Insanity.  By  T.  W.  Fisher,  M.D.,  late  of  the 
Boston  Hospital  for  the  Insane.     8vo.     Cloth.     $1  50. 

FOLSOM.  Disease  of  the  Mind.  Notes  on  the  Early  Management, 
European  and  American  Progress,  Modern  Methods,  &c.,  in  the  Treatment  of 
Insanity.  By  Charles  F.  Folsom,  M.D.,  Secretary  of  the  Massachusetts  Board 
of  Health.     Illustrated.     8vo.     Cloth.     5^51.25. 

FOLSOM.    The  Four  Gospels,  from  the  Text  of  Tischendorf. 

By  N.  S.  Folsom.     i2mo.     Cloth.     486  pages.     J/S2.50.     Third  edition. 

GODDARD.     Newspapers  and  Newspaper  Writers  in   New 

England,  1787-1815.  By  D.  A.  Goddard,  editor  of  Boston  Daily  Advertiser. 
Svo.     Pamphlet.     50  cents. 

GRANT.     The  Confessions  of  a   Frivolous  Girl.     A  Story  of 
Fashionable  Life.     Edited  by  Robert  Grant,  author  "The  Little  Tin  Gods-on- 
Wheels."     With  vignette  illustrations   by   L.   S.   Ipsen.      i6mo.      Cloth,  extra, 
$1.25.     Paper,  75  cents.     Tenth  thoitsand. 
***  "  A  charming  novel,  aboundmg  in  clever  comment,  good-natured  sarcasm,  and 

witty  reflection."  —  Saturday  Evening  Gazette. 

GREEN.      Early    Records    of    Groton,    Massachusetts.      By 

Samuel  A.  Green.     Svo.     Cloth.     201  pages.    ;^2.oo. 

GREENE.  The  Blazing  Star :  with  an  Appendix  treating  of  the  Jew- 
wish  Kabbala.  Also  a  Tract  on  the  Philosophy  of  Mr.  Herbert  Spencer,  and 
one  on  New  England  Transcendentalism.  By  W.  B.  Greene.  lamo.  Cloth. 
180  pages.     $1.25. 

fcrUARD   (DE  LA).     The    Simple  Cobler   of   Aggawam  in 

America.     By  Theodore  de  la  Guaro.     i6mo.     Pamphlet.     50  cents. 
%*  A/ac-simile  reprint  of  the  London  edition  of  1647. 

HALL.    Masonic  Prayers.    4to.    Large  type.     Limp.    Cloth.    $1.25. 

HALL.    Master  Key  to  the  Treasures  of  the  Royal  Arch.    A 

complete  guide  to  the  Degrees  of  Mark  Master,  Past  Master,  M.  G.  Master,  and 
Royal  Arch.  Approved  and  adopted  throughout  the  United  States.  By  John 
K   Hall.     Morocco,  tuck.     75  cents. 

HALL.    Master  Workman  of  the  Entered  Ai 
Craft,  and  Master  Mason's  Degrees.     By 

Paul's  R.  A.  Chapter,  Boston,  Mass.,  and  P.  D.  Gr.  H.  P.  of  the  Grand  Chap,  of 
Mass.     Morocco,  tuck.    75  cents. 

HASKINS.  Selections  from  the  Scriptures.  For  Families  and 
Schools.     By  Rev.  B.  G.  Haskins.     1  vol.     24nio.     402  pages.     $1.^0. 

HOWE.  Science  of  Language;  or  Seven-Hour  System  of 
Grammar.  By  Professor  D.  P.  Howe.  Pamphlet.  50  cents.  Thirtieth  thou- 
sand. 

HUBBARD.      Summer  Vacations  at   Moosehead    Lake  and 

Vicinity.  A  Practical  Guide-book,  by  L.  L.  Hubbard.  With  maps  and  twenty 
beautiful  photograph  illustrations  done  in  heliotype.  i6mo.  Cloth.  114  pages. 
$1.50.     Paper  covers.    50  cents. 

JEFFRIES.  Diseases  of  the  Skin.  The  Recent  Advances  in  their 
Pathology  and  Treatment,  being  the  Boylston  Prize  Essay  for  1871.  By  B.  Jov 
Jeffries,  A.M.,  M.D.     8vo.     Cloth.     ;gi.oo. 

JEFFRIES.  The  Animal  and  Vegetable  Parasites  of  the 
Human  Skin  and  Hair,  and  False  Parasites  of  the  Human  Body.  By 
B.  Jov  Jei-kries,  A.m.,  M.D.     i2mo.     Clotli.     ^i  00. 


;red  Apprentice  Fellow- 
JoHN  K.  Hall,  P,  H.  P.  of  St 


^*r>lG.    The  War-Ships  and  Navies  of  the  World.    Containing  a 

complete  and  concise  description  of  the  Construction,  Motive  Power,  and  Arma- 
ments of  Modern  War-Ships  of  all  the  Navies  of  the  World,  Naval  Artillery, 
Mariue  Engines,  Boilers.  Torpedoes,  and  Torpedo-Boats.  By  Chief  Engineer 
J.   W.  King,  U    S-  Navy,    author  of  "  King's   Notes  on  the  Steam-Engine." 

1  vol.     8vo.     500  pages.     64  full-page  illustrations.     ;f7.oo. 

%*  "The  ablest,  most  interesting,  and  most  complete  work  on  the  subject  in  the 
English  language."  — Edinburgk  Review. 

KING.  Handbook  of  Boston.  By  Moses  King.  Proftisely  illus- 
trated.    i2mo.     2g6  pages.     Paper,  60  cents.    Cloth,  $100. 

KING.  Harvard  and  its  Surroundings.  Copiously  illustrated  with 
heliotypes,  wood  engravings,  and  etchings.     Small  410.     fi-so.     Paper,  ;$i.oo. 

KNAPP.    My  Work  and  Ministry,  with  Six  Essays.    By  Rev. 

W.  H.  Knapp.     i6mo.     327  pages      ;j5i.50.     Third  edition. 

LAIGHTON.     Poems  by  Albert  Laighton.     Frontispiece.    i6mo. 

Cloth,  gilt.     125  pages.    $1.00. 

%*  The  author  is  a  native  of  Portsmouth,  N.  H.,  and  this  little  volume  is  of 
special  interest  to  natives  of  that  ancient  city. 

LEIGH.      Modern   Cotton    Spinning.      By  Evan    Leigh,   C.   E. 

2  vols.  Quarto.  Profusely  illustrated.  Price  $30.00.  Second  and  enlarged 
edition 

"LET  NOT  YOUR  HEART  BE  TROUBLED."  Square 
i2mo.  Leaflet,  tied.  4S  pages.  Printed  in  two  colors.  Illuminated  cover. 
75  cents.     Fourth  thousand. 

LITTLE.     Early  New  England  Interiors.     By  Arthur  Little. 

A  Volume  of  Sketches  in  old   New-England    places.      Thick   oblong   quarto. 

$5.00 

♦«*  "To  those  far  distant,  unfamiliar  with  the  nooks  and  comers  of  New  Eng- 
land, and  prone  to  consider  the  work  of  Puritanical  colonists,  noticeable  only  for  its 
lack  of  taste,  and  conspicuous  for  green  blinds  and  white  painted  walls,  this  work  will 
be  a  revelation."  —  lioston  Daily  Advertiser. 

LOVING    WORDS    FOR    LONELY    HOURS.    Oblong,  leaf-' 

let,  tied.     22  pages.     Printed  in  two  colors.     50  cents.     Sixth  thousand. 

LOVING  WORDS  FOR  LONELY  HOURS.  Second  series. 
22  pages.     50  cents.     Second  thousand. 

LUCKE.  Surgical  Diagnosis  of  Tumors.  By  A.  Lucke  (Stras- 
burg).     Translated  by  A.  T.  Cabot,  M.D.     i6nio.     Pamphlet.     25  cents. 

MALLOCK.     Every  Man   His   Own  Poet;  or,  The  Inspired 
Singer's  Recipe  Book.     i6mo.     Paper.     Price,  25  cents.     Fifth  thousand. 
***  A  most  enjoyable  piece  of  satire,  witty,  clever,  and  refined.     In  society  its 

success,  here  and  abroad,  has  been  immense- 

MITCHELL.  A  Manual  for  the  Use  of  Clergymen  and 
Others  Preparing  Classes  for  Confirmation.  By  Rev.  W.  Mitchelu 
Pamphlet.     10  cents. 

MORRIS.        The    Autobiography    of    Commodore    Charles 

Morris.     With  heliotype  portrait  after  Akv  Schefker.     1  vol.    8vo.    iii  pages. 

*»*  A  valuable  addition  to  the  lit-erature  of  American  history  and  biography  from 
the  pen  of  one  who,  in  the  words  of  Admiral  Farragut,  was  "America's  grandest 
seaman." 

MORRISON.     History  of    Morison   and  Morrison  Families. 

468  pages.     8vo.     Jn  00. 
NANTUCKET     RECEIPTS.       Collected    chiefly  from    Nantucket 

sources      i6mo.     Pamphlet.     40  pages.     25  cents. 
NEWTON.      Essays  of  To-Day.     Kelisious  and  Theological.     P.y 

Rev.  W,M.  W.  Newto.m,  Rector  of  St.  Paul's   Church,  lioston.     i2mo.     Cloth 

*^y  P<inC».    i^aoo. 


PARKER.  The  Battle  of  Mobile  Bay  and  the  Capture  of 
Forts  Powell,  Gaines,  and  Morgan.  By  Commodore  Foxhall  A.  Pakkek. 
8vo.     Cloth,  elegant.     136  pages.     Portrait  and  two  colored  charts.     #2.50. 

PEABODY.    Esthetic  Papers.    Editedby  Elizabeth  P.  Peabody. 
I  vol.     8vo.     Pamphlet.     248  pages.     $2.00.     Boston,  1849. 
*#*  A  rare  pamphlet,  of  which  but  a  few  copies  remain  for  sale.     It  contains  early 

papers  by  Emerson,  Hawthorne,  Parke  Codwin,  Thoreau,  and  others. 

PREBLE.  A  History  of  the  Flag  of  the  United  States  of 
America,  and  of  the  Naval  and  Yacht  Ciub  Signals,  Seals,  and  Arms,  and 
principal  National  Songs.  With  a  Chronicle  of  the  Symbols,  Standards,  Banners, 
and  Flags  of  Ancient  and  Modern  Nations.  By  Rear  Admiral  George  Henry 
Preble,  U.  S.  Navy,  i  vol.  8vo.  Price,  $7.00. 
\*  A  masterly  and  encyclopedic  production,  absolutely  without  a  rival,  conveying 

to  the  general  reader,  ir.  a  manner  eminently  readable,  a  fund  of  information  on  the 

naval  and  military  history  of  the  country,     it  is  profusely  illustrated. 

HOLLO'S  JOURNEY  TO  CAMBRIDGE.  A  Tale  of  the 
Adventures  of  the  Historic  Holiday  Family  at  Harvard  under  the  new  regime- 
With  twenty-six  illustrations,  full-page  frontispiece,  and  an  illuminated  cover  of 
striking  gorgeousness,  by  Francis  G.  Attwood.  i  vol.  Imp.  8vo.  Limp. 
London  toy  book  style.  Price,  50  cents.  Third  and  enlarged  edition. 
*#*  "All  will  certainly  relish  the  delicious  satire  in  both  text  and  illustrations."  — 

Boston  Traveller. 

%*  "  A  brilli.mt  and  witty  piece  of  fun."  —  Chicago  Tribune. 

RUDINGER.     Atlas  of  the  Ossean  Anatomy  of  the  Human 

Ear.  Comprising  a  portion  of  the  Atlas  of  the  Human  Ear.  By  N  RUdinger. 
Translated  and  edited,  with  notes  and  an  additional  plate,  by  Clarence  J. 
Blake,  M.D.    9  plates.     4to.     Cloth,  extra.     #3-5o- 

%*  The  plates  are  the  same   as  in  the  German  edition,  and  were    imported 
specially  for  this  edition. 

SMITH.      Myths   and   Idyls  of  the  Present;    or,  Stories  and 
Dialogues  in  Prose  and  Verse,  for  Young  and  Old  Hearts.    By  Eliza 
Winchell  Smith.     278  pages.     Square  i2nio.     Cloth.    #1.50. 
»^*  Deserving  of  being  widely  known  and  extensively  circulated  amongst  those 

who  have  healthy  appetites  for  books  free  from  sentimentalism,  goodiness,  and  slang. 

SPALDING.  The  Ordinance  of  Confirmation:  its  History 
and  Significance.  By  the  Rev.  J.  F.  Spalding.  8vo.  Paper.  21  pages. 
15  cents. 

SPRAGUE.   Poetical  and  Prose  Writings  of  Charles  Sprague. 

New  edition,  with  steel  portrait  and  biographical  sketch.  i2mo.  Cloth.  207 
pages.     $1.50. 

STEVENS.    Fly  Fishing  in  Maine  Lakes;  or,  Camp  Life  in 

the  Wilderness.  By  C  W.  Stevens.  With  38  vignette  illustrations,  and 
colored  frontispiece,  showing  the  best  killing  flies  in  vogue.    Square  i2mo.    Cloth. 

*#*  A  bright  and  attractive  book  for  every  angler  and  sportsman,  full  of  breezy 
sketches  replete  with  incidents.     It  is  as  practical  as  it  is  humorous. 

STEVENS.        On     Ensilage    of     Green     Forage    Crops     in 

Silos.     Experience  with    Ensilage  at   Echo   Dale   Farm.     Also  the  Practical 

Experience  of  Twenty-five  Practical  Farmers  with   Ensilage  and  Silos.     By  H. 

R.  Stevens.     1  vol.  8vo.     Cloth.     50  cents. 
STEVENS.    Revelations  of  a  Boston  Physician.    By  Charles 

WisTAR  Stevens,  M.D.     i2mo.     Cloth.     252  pages.     $1.00.  ^ 

*#*  A  work  that  does  for  Boston  what  Warren  m  his  "Diary  of  a  Physician  " 
did  for  London. 
STONE.     Domesticated  Trout.    How  to  Breed  and  Grow  them.    By 

Livingston  Stone.     i2mo,    367  pages.    $2.00.     Third  edition.     Revised  and 

enlarged. 
STURTEVANT.    The  Dairy  Cow.    A  Monograph  on  the  Ayrshire 

r>reed  of  Cattle.     With  an  Appendix  on   Ayrshire,  Jersey,  and  Dutch   Milks; 

their  Formation  and  Peculiarities.     By  E.  Lewis,  M.D.,and  James  N.  Sturtk- 

vant.     i2mo.    252  pages.     Illustrated.    J2.00. 


TKD  GAS  CONSUMER'S  GUIDE.  Illustrated.  i2mo.  Cloth, 
;^i  CX3.    Paper,  75  cents. 

TOWER.      Modern  American   Bridge    Building.      Illustrated. 

1  vol.     8vo.     Cloth.     JS2.00. 

UNDERWOOD.     History  of  the  33d   Massachusetts   Regi- 
ment.    By  Gen.  A.  B.  Underwood.     8vo.     340  pages.    ^3.00. 
%*  A  Regimental  history  without  a  dull  chapter. 

VILLE.  High  Farming  without  Manure.  Six  Lectures  on  Agri- 
culture. By  (Jeokgh  Vili,e.  Publislied  under  the  direction  of  the  Massachu- 
setts Society  for  the  Promotion  of  Agriculture.  i6mo.  108  pages.  Price,  25  cents, 
*#*  A  wonderfully  cheap  edition  of  a  famous  book. 

WARE.    Hints  to  Young  Men  on  the  True  Relations  of  the 

Sexes.      By  John  Ware,  M.D.      i6nio.     Cloth,  hmp.    50  cents.      Tiventieth 

thousand. 

*n*  Accurate,  clear,  truthful,  and  in  no  way  offensive  to  modesty. 

WARREN.   Surgical  Observations  with  Cases  and  Operations. 

By  T.  Mason  Wakken,  M.D.     Witli  fine  colored  illustrations  and  many  wood 

engravings.     8vo.     Cloth.     630  pages.  ^3.50. 

*#*  The  last  published  work  of  this  eminent  surgeon. 

WATSON.    A  Course  of   Descriptive  Geometry.    For  the  use 

of  Colleges  and  Scientific  Schools.  With  an  Appendix  containing  Stereoscopic 
Views  of  the  Solutions  in  Space  of  the  Principal  Problems.  By  William 
Watson,  Ph.D.     Plates.     Quarto.     Cloth.    {^3.00. 

WATSON.      European  System   of   Instruction:    Studio  and 

Atelier.  With  the  most  approved  Models  and  Appliances  recently  selected  from 
the  technical  Schools  of  France,  Germany,  and  Austria.  By  William  Watson, 
Ph.D.     8vo.     Boards.     50  cents. 

WHEELWRIGHT.      A    New  "Chance  Acquaintance."     A 

Trille  served  up  on  Twelve  Plates,  by  J.  T.  Wheelwright.      Illustrated  by 

F.  G.  Attwood.     i2mo.     Paper.     25  cents. 

*#*  A  Boston y^«  d' esprit  in  verse.     Very  clever  and  witty. 

WHITEFIELD.      The   Homes  of  our   Forefathers.     Being  9. 

collection   of  the  oldest  and  the  most  interesting  buildings    in    Mas=achusett.x. 
From  original  drawings  in  colors  by  E.  Whitefield.     With  Historical  Memo- 
randa.    I  vol.,  oblong  quarto,  cloth,  neat,  giit  edges,  bevelled,  ?5".oo. 
%*A  work  that  gives,  witii  the  faithfulness  of  a  photograph,  the  curious,  pictur- 
esque and  always  interesting  relics  of  colonial  days  that  still  remain  to  Massachusetts. 

WHITNEY— CLARKE.  A  Compendium  of  ihe  most  im- 
portant Drugs  with  their  Doses,  according  to  the  Metiic  System.  By 
W  f'.  Whiinkv,  M.[).  and  F.  H.  Clarke.  32mo.  40  i-..e,es.  25  cents. 
Specially  made  to  fit  the  Vest  I'ocket. 

WINES.    The  State  of  Prisons  and  of  Child-Saving  Institu- 
tions in  the  Civilized  World.    By  E.  C  Wines,  D.D.,  LL.D.    i  vol.    Large 
8vo.     719  pages.     #5.00. 
*♦*  k  vast  repository  of  facts,  and  the  most  extensive  work  issued  in  any  language, 

on  matters  relating  to  prison  discijjline  and  jiena!  justice. 

WORCESTER.      History  of  HoUis,    New  Hampshire.      By 

S.  T.  Worcester.     Maps  and  engravings.     Svo.     394  pages.     ^2.50. 

For  sale  by  all  booksellers,  or  mailed,  postage  paid,  on  receipt  of  pric«. 

CUPPLE8,  UPHAM  &  CO.,  PUBLISHERS, 

BOSTON. 


CUPPLES,  UPHAM  &  CO.'S 

Latest  Publications. 

TrouWesome  Children :  Their  Ups  and  Downs. 

By  One  of  Them.  With  ten  full-page  colored  illustrations, 
and  fifteen  plain  engravings  by  Francis  G.  Attwood.  i  vol. 
Thick  oblong  quarto.     Exquisitely  colored  covers.     Price,  $2.50. 

*^*  Being  wholly  without  cant,  affectation,  or  any  attempt  to  enter  into  the  subtle- 
ties oi  religious  creeds;  the  purity,  sweetness,  and  combined  tenderness  and  humor, 
together  with  its  high  moral  tone,  will  give  it,  too,  an  entrance  into  the  home  of  our 
American  firesides  in  a  way  suggestive  of  the  welcome  accorded  to  the  "Frai-conia" 
stories  and  "Alice's  Adventures  in  Wonderland." 

SI7  Ballades  in  Harvard  China. 

By  E.  S.  M.  With  many  illustrations  and  in  folded  paper 
covers  exquisitely  designed  and  colored  by  Lambert  Hollis,  after 
the  manner  of  the  famous  Paris  "Amateur"  Series.  i  vol. 
Small  quarto.     $1.00. 

***  The  most  dainty  collection  of  charming  fancies  since  Praed,  and  worthy  of  the 
school  which  has  produced  such  inimitable  jeu  d'esprit  as  "  The  Little  Tin  Gods  on 
Wheels  "  and  "  Rollo's  Tour  to  Cambridge." 

Thaddeus  Stevens:  Commoner. 

By  E.  B.  Callender,  member  of  the  Massachusetts  Bar.  One 
volume,  with  portrait,  handsomely  bound  in  cloth,  $1.25. 

"  This  life  will  be  welcomed  by  all  who  hold  the  'Old  Commoner'  in  affectionate 
remembrance." — IVaic/i/nan  and  Re/lector. 

LONGFELLOW  AND  EMERSON. 

The  Massachusetts  Historical  Society's  Memorial  Volume. 

Containing  the  addresses  and  eulogies  by  Dr.  G.  E.  Ellis,  Dr. 
Oliver  Wendell  Holmes,  Charles  E.  Norton  and  others,  together 
with  Mr.  Emerson's  tribute  to  Thomas  Carlyle  and  his  earlier 
and  much-sought-for  addresses  on  Sir  Walter  Scott  and  Robert 
Burns.  Illustrated  with  two  full-page  portraits  in  albertype  after 
Mr.  Notman's  faithful  and  pleasing  j^hotographs  of  Mr.  Long- 
fellow, and  Mr.  Hawes's  celebrated  photograph  of  Mr.  Emerson, 
taken  in  1855,  so  highly  prized  by  collectors.  One  volume. 
Qiiarto.  Boards.  Uncut.  Price,  $2.50;  or  in  white  vellum, 
cloth,  gilt  top,  uncut  edges,  $3.50.     Limited  edition  printed. 

The  Sewall  Papers. 

Diary  of  Samuel  Sewall,  1674-1729.  Edited  by  Geo.  E.  Ellis, 
D.D.     3  vols.     Large  8vo.     With  elaborate  index.     $9.00  jzet. 

*^*  A  literal  transcript,  in  type,  of  the  famous  diary  of  Chief  Justice  Sewall,  of 
Massachusetis,  in  possession  of  the  Massachusetts  Historical  Society.  As  a  minute 
picture  of  the  manners  and  customs  of  early  colonial  days,  abounding  in  wit,  humor, 
and  wisdom  in  the  quaintest  of  English,  it  h.is  no  prototype.  The  importance  of  its 
publication  as  a  discovery  can  be  compared  only  with  the  deciphering  of  the  diary  of 
Samuel  Pepys,  which  it  fully  equals  in  interest. 


A  Hed  Letter  Day. 
Poems  by  Lucius  Harwood  Foote.      Handsome    cover    in 
entirely   original   design,    the   prettiest   of  the    season.     Heavy 
paper.    Elegant  print.    Square  i2mo.     112  pages.   Cloth.    $1.50. 

The  Sheep  Scab. 

Its  nature,  prevention,  and  cure.  A  handbook  for  Americii'i 
Shepherds.  By  Henry  Temple  Brown.  To  which  is  added  by 
request:  "The  Classification  of  Wools  and  their  Marketable 
Values,"  an  address  delivered  before  the  Missouri  State  Wool 
Growers' Association  at  Idaho,  Mo.,  April  5,  18S2.  i  vol.  i2mo. 
Illustrated.     Cloth.     50  cents  net. 

A  New  Volume  of  Proverbs. 

Sparks  from  the  Philosopher's  Stone.  By  James  Lendall 
BosFORD.     I  vol.     Square  i2mo.    Cloth.    Red  edge.    Price,  $i. 00. 

Walking  Guide  to  the  Mt.  Washington  Range. 

By  William  H.  Pickering.  With  large  map.  Square  i6mo. 
Cloth.     Price,  75  cents. 

What  Our  Mothers  Make. 

A  Pamphlet  volume  of  Tried  Receipts  first  issued  for  the 
"  Little  Women's  Fair."  Very  tasty  cover.  60  pages.  Price, 
25  cents. 

Cape  Cod  Folks. 

A  novel.  By  Sally  Pratt  McLean.  With  frontispiece  by 
Mitchell,  and  a  charming  vignette  outline,  drawn  and  engraved 
by  W.  J.  Dana,  showing  Cape  Cod  and  the  adjacent  islands  of 
Nantucket  and  Martha's  Vineyard;  the  whole  tastefully  bound 
in  cloth,  with  unique  and  elegant  cover,  designed  by  L.  S.  Ipsen, 
1  vol.     i2mo.     327  pages.     $1.50.     Eleventh  edition, 

"  There  is  real  power  in  her  characterization.  Real  eloquence  in  her  account  of 
the  unculiivated  singing.  *  *  *  Real  pathos  in  the  vague  religious  opinions,  and 
the  intense  religious  sentiment  of  these  simple  brave  people." — Boston  Advertiser. 

"  Her  description  of  the  provincial  traits  of  this  most  provincial  of  all  the  outly- 
ing New  England  Settlements,  are  admirable  bits  oi s^nrc  workmanship." — Harper's 
Magazine. 

Love  Foems  and  Sonnbts. 

By  Owen  Innsly.  Limp,  white  vellum.  1S5  pages.  $1.00. 
Third  edition. 

*'  It  is  a  lovely  volume  of  lovely  verses  on  the  loveliest  of  themes."— J^'.  R.  Alger. 

**  It  must  be  confessed,  however,  that  this  volume  will  probably  receive  nothing;  but 
contempt  from  the  admirers  of  Whitman  and  Wilde,  for  with  all  its  strength  and  pas- 
sion, it  must  seem  to  them  basely  and  despicably  pure." — N.  Y.  Evening  Post. 

"  A  sense  of  power  still  held  m  reserve  fascinates  the  reader,  and  through  all  its 
changing  forms  the  fervent  passion  obeys  the  master's  hand." — Literary  World. 

"  The  contents  arc  sweet,  passionate,  and  plaintive." — N,  V.  Times. 

Driven  to  Sea;  or,  The  Adventures  of  Norrie  Seton. 

By  Mrs.  George  Cupples.  Illustrated.  Cloth.  Full  gilt 
sides.     Large  i2mo.     $1.50.    g^^Eleventli  thousand. 


The  Deserted  Ship ;  a  Story  of  the  Atlantic. 

By  George  Cupples,  author  of  "  The  Green  Hand."  Hand- 
somelj  bound  in  cloth,  gilt,  extra.     i2mo.     Illustrated.     $1.25. 

"In  these  two  absorbing  sea  ^iod^s—"  The  Dene  rted  Shi/>,"  and  ^*  Driven  to 
Sea" — the  peril  and  adventure  of  a  sailor's  life  are  graphically  described,  its  ameni- 
t.es  and  allurements  being  skdifully  offset  by  pictures  of  its  hardships  and  exposures, 
and  the  virtues  of  endurance,  fortitude,  fidelity,  and  courage  are  portrayed  with 
rough  and  ready,  and  highly  attractive  effusiveness.'' — Harper's  Magazhie. 

7lj  Pishing  in  Maine  Lakes ;  or,  Camp  Life  in  the  Wilderness. 

By  Maj.  Charles  W.  Stevens,  Commander  of  the  Ancient 
and  Honorable  Artillery  Company,  Boston.  With  colored 
frontispiece  of  the  best  killing  tiies,  and  rubricated  title-page. 
Square  i2mo.     Cloth.     201  pages.     $1.25. 

*•  It  is  written  as  naturally  and  unaffectedly  as  if  told  over  the  pipe,  around  the 
evening  fire,  to  a  circle  of  brother  sportsmen." — Pittsburgh  Telegraph. 

"  The  book  is  really  very  liv  ly." — CinciJinati  Commercial. 

Rollo's  Journey  to  Cambridge. 

Illustrations  and  illuminated  cover  by  Francis  G.  Attwood. 
I  vol.     Quarto.     50  cents. 

***  A  satire  upon  Life  at  Harvard  College  in  the  form  of  a  parody  upon  the 
famous  Rollo  Story  Books,  Printed  originally  in  the  Harvard  Lampoon,  and  later 
compiled  with  the  consent  of  the  editors  inio  a  sqaure  octavo  in  pc«per  covers.  Ti\e 
cleverness  of  parody  and  satire  and  the  familiarity  of  the  subject  have  made  this  a 
most  decided  hit.  Already  four  editions  have  been  exhausted,  and  the  demand 
promises  to  continue  as  long  as  Harvard  College  maintains  its  influence  on  surround- 
ing social  life,  and  humor  continues  to  bean  American  characteristic. 

Bicycle  Tour  in  England  and  Wales. 

By  Capt.  Sharpe  and  A.  D.  Chandler,  President  of  tlie 
Boston  Bicycle  Club.  Illustrated  by  four  large  folding  maps 
and  seventeen  brightly  finished  albertype  engravings.  Small 
quarto.     Gilt.     164  pages.     $2.00. 

%*  The  title  gives  not  the  slightest  idea  of  the  real  contents.  It  is  a  work  of 
exquisite  beauty,  displaying^  rare  taste  and  judgment,  laboriously  and  elaborately 
executed,  which  none  but  an  intense  devotee  of  the  wheel  could  have  carried  out  to 
such  an  interesting  degree. 

Southern  Rambles :  Florida. 

By  Owen  Knox.  Very  profusely  illustrated.  150  pages. 
Square  i2mo.     Cloth,  $1.00;  paper,  50  cents. 

***  An  amusing  and  satirical  account  of  a  Winter's  Trip  to  Florida,  filled  with 
laughable  incidents,  character  studies,  descriptions  of  Southern  Life,  wholly  devoid  of 
exagg-iration,  showing  Florida  as  it  struck  the  author,  and  not  as  the  interested  guide- 
book-makers endeavor  to  prove  it  to  be. 

Poetical  and  Prose  Writings  of  Charles  Sprague. 

New  edition,  with  a  steel  portrait  and  a  biographical  sketch, 
i2ino.     Cloth.     207  pages.     $1.50. 

New  England  Interiors. 

By  Arthur  Little.  A  volume  of  sketches  in  eld  New  Eng- 
land places.     Thick  oblong  quarto.     $5.00. 

*»*  "  To  those  far  distant,  unfamiliar  with  the  nooks  and  corners  of  New  England, 
and  prone  to  consider  the  work  of  Puritanical  colonists  noticeable  only  for  its  hick  of 
taste,  and  conspicuous  for  green  blinds  and  white  painted  walls,  this  work  will  bo  a 
revelation." — Boston  Daily  Advertiser. 

The  Land  of  Qold. 

By  George  H.  Spurr.  A  novel  founded  upon  fact.  Illustra- 
tive of  pioneer  life  in  California  in  '49.  121110.  Cloth.  270 
pages.     Illustrated.     $1.50. 


The  Homes  of  our  Forefathers. 

A  selection  of  the  Oldest  and  most  Interestin;^  Buildings 
Historical  Houses,  and  Noted  places  in  Massachusetts.  Uy 
Edwin  Whitefield.     Quarto.     Cloth.     $6.oo. 

***  Third  improved  and  enlarged  edition  of  this  valuable  and  interesting  work 
which  is  composed  entirely  of  plates,  in  color,  accompanied  with  descriptions. 

The  Homes  of  Our  Forefathers.  2nd  Part. 

Same  as  above,  but  embracing  the  Historical  Homes  of  Rhode 
Island  and  Connecticut.  By  Edwin  Whitefield.  4to.  Cloth. 
$6.00. 

Dr.  Howell's  Family.       Christine's  Fortune. 

By  Mrs.  H.  B.  Goodwin.  New  and  popular  editions  in  a  very 
attractive  style  of  binding.     Each  i6mo.     Cloth.     $1.00. 

"  Of  the  merits  of  them,  it  is  difficult  to  speak  too  highly.  They  are  written  in  a 
style  as  near  perfection  as  it  is  possible  to  conceive.  Better  books  a  parent  cannot  put 
into  the  hands  of  a  son  or  daughter. " —  IVnic/u/iafi. 

Captain  Nathan  Hale. 

An  address  delivered  at  Groton,  Connecticut,  on  the  Hale 
Memorial  Day,  September  7,  1881.  By  Edward  Everett 
Hale.     Pamphlet.     20  cents. 

Feirce's  Colonial  Lists. 

Civil,  Military,  and  Professional  Lists  of  Plymouth  and  Rhode 
Island  Colonies,  comprising  Colonial,  County,  and  Town  Officers, 
Clergymen,  Physicians,  and  Lawyers.  With  extracts  from 
Colonial  Laws  defining  their  duties.  1620 — 1700.  By  Eben- 
ezer  W.  Peirce,  of  Freetown,  Mass.,  member  of  various  His- 
torical and  Genealogical  Societies.  iSSi.  Svo.  156  pages.  Price, 
$2.00. 

Henry  Knos  Thatcher,  Rear  Admiral  U.  S.  Navy. 

By  George  Henry  Preble,  U.  S.  N.  A  pamphlet  biography 
of  the  late  Admiral  Thatcher.  With  steel  portrait.  Price  50 
cents. 

Tower.    Modem  American  Bridge  Building. 

Illustrated,     i  vol.     Svo.     Cloth.     $1.00. 
%*  The  only  work  on  modern  wooden  bridges. 

Foems  oftheFilgrims, 

Selected  by  Zilpha  H.  Spooner.  A  handsome  i2mo.  bound 
in  cloth.  Bevelled  edges.  Heavy  paper.  Gilt  edges.  Illustrated 
in  photography.  The  poems,  about  thirty  in  number,  are  se- 
lected from  Lowell,  Holmes,  Bryant,  Mrs.  Sigourney,  Mrs. 
Hemans,  and  other  great  writers.     Price  $2.00. 

James  A.  Garfield.    Tributes  from  Over  the  Sea. 

Being  selections  from  Foreign  Testimonials  to  the  late  Presi- 
dent Garfield.     Sm.  4to.     50  cents. 

The  Labor  Question. 

The  relation  of  political  economy  to  the  labor  question.  By 
Carroll  D.  Wright,  Chief  of  the  Mass.  Bureau  of  Statistics 
of  Labor,     i  vol.     Thin  i6mo.     Cloth.     60  cents. 

%*  *•  Col.  Wright  has  discussed  the  theme  in  a  striking  and  original  n).iniKr,  and 
deserves  the  thanks  of  the  community."' — Boston  Traveler . 


Twelfth  Editic 


CAPE    COD    FOLKS- 

BY  SALLY  PRATT  McLEAN. 


Volume,     x-imo.  Price,  $1.50.         ^2^  Pages.    Cloth,  gilt. 


•'  Those  who  take  up  this  volume  expecting  a  commonplace  story  with 
which  to  while  away  a  few  hours,  will  find  themselves  most  agreeably  sur- 
prised. It  is  full,  from  beginning  to  end,  of  the  most  delicious  humor, 
while  through  the  whole  runs  a  vein  of  pathos  that  touches  and  thrills  to 
tears  in  the  midst  of  laughter.  One  feels  that  the  quaint  characters  described 
here  have  their  counterparts,  that  it  is  real  life  upon  the  bleak  Cape  Cod  of 
which  we  are  reading.  The  warmest  love  flows  out  to  Grandpa  and 
Grandma  Spicer,  whose  horizon  is  bounded  by  the  ocean  upon  which 
Grandpa  has  spent  so  many  years  of  his  life,  and  who  are  both  so  kindly 
naturcd  and  full  to  the  brim  of  goodness.  Benny  Cradlebow,  the  unlettered 
young  Apollo,  challenges  our  sympathy  from  the  first  to  the  last,  when  he 
loses  his  life  in  trying  to  save  that  of  his  would-be  rival."  —  Toledo  Blade. 

"There  is  real  power  in  her  characterization.  Real  eloquence  in  her  ac- 
count of  the  uncultivated  singing.  .  .  Real  pathos  in  the  vague  religious 
opinions  and  intense  religious  sentiment  of  these  simple,  brave  people."  — 
£oRton  Advertiser. 

"  Her  description  of  the  provincial  traits  of  this  most  provincial  of  all  the 
outlying  New  England  settlements,  are  admirable  bits  of  ^t-w/v  workman- 
ship."—  Harper'' s  Magazine. 


CUPPLES,   UPHAM   &   CO.,  PUBLISHERS, 

BOSTON. 


CAPE   COD   FOLKS. 

BY  SALLY  PRATT  McLEAN. 


1  Volume.     i2mo.     ■^2-j  Pages.     Cloth, gilt.    Price,  $i.^o. 


CUPPLES,  UPHAM  &  CO.,  Publishers, 


BOSTON. 


OPINIONS  OF  THE  PRESS  ON  THE  WRITINGS  OF  THE 
NEW  AMERICAN  HUMORIST. 

"  So  natural  and  true  to  life  are  some  of  the  characters,  localities,  and 
incidents  depicted  in  the  book,  that  the  observing  reader  linds  it  diflicult  to 
persuade  himself  that  he  is  not  reading  the  autobiography  of  a  vivacious 
school-teacher  in  real  life.  The  scenes  and  incidents  of  the  novel  are  by 
no  means  commonplace,  however,  and  there  is  just  enough  of  the  improb- 
able and  impossible  in  the  story  to  give  it  piquancy  and  thorough  zest."  — 
Boston  Post. 

**  We  rather  doubt  the  justice  or  policy  of  ranking  the  work  as  a  novel, 
for  it  is  really  a  triumph  of  character  sketching,  witli  novelistic  develop- 
ments."—  Boston  Sunday  Times. 

"  Every  chapter  is  fresh  and  sparkling  with  life  and  humor,  and  we  can- 
not help  but  eulogize  the  autlior  for  her  masterly  hand  and  genius  of  story- 
telling."—A^.  Y.  Star. 

"  Those  who  take  up  this  volume  expecting  a  commonplace  story  with 
which  to  while  away  a  few  hours,  will  find  themselves  most  agreeably  sur- 
prised. It  is  full,  from  beginning  to  end,  of  the  most  delicious  humor, 
while  through  the  whole  nms  a  vein  of  pathos  that  touches  and  thrills  to 
tears  in  the  midst  of  laughter.  One  feels  that  the  quaint  chanicters  described 
here  have  their  counterparts,  that  it  is  real  life  upon  the  bleak  Cape  Cod  of 
which  we  arc  reading.  The  warmest  If)vc  flows  out  to  Grandpa  and 
Grandma  Spicer,  whose  horizon  is  bounded  by  tlic  ocean  upon    which 


Press  Notices, 


Grandpa  has  spent  so  many  years  of  his  life,  and  who  are  both  so  kindly 
naturcd  and  full  to  the  briin  of  goodness.  Benny  Cradlebow,  tlie  unlettered 
young  Apollo,  challenges  our  sympathy  from  the  first  to  the  last,  when  lie 
loses  his  life  in  trying  to  save  that  of  his  would-be  rival. 

"  The  plot  is  nothing,  and  yet  the  reader  is  not  aware  of  its  absence.  The 
book  is  simply  a  picture  of  the  events  in  a  few  months  of  the  life  of  a  young 
girl  who  was  seized  with  the  idea  of  doing  missionary  work,  and  goes  to 
Cape  Cod  as  a  teacher.  It  is  as  crisp  as  the  air  in  that  sea-bound  place,  and 
as  sparkling  as  its  starry  skies.  That  it  is  true  to  nature  is  evident  from  the 
fact  that  its  publishers  have  had  a  libel  suit  upon  their  hands  on  its  account. 
Buy  and  read  it.    You  cannot  fail  to  be  entertained."  —  Toledo  Blade. 

"  There  is  real  power  in  her  characterization.  Real  eloquence  in  her  ac- 
count of  the  uncultivated  singing.  .  .  Real  pathos  in  the  vague  religious 
opinions  and  intense  religious  sentiment  of  these  simple,  brave  people."  — 
Boston  Advertiser. 

"  Her  description  of  the  provincial  traits  of  this  most  provincial  of  all  the 
outlying  New  England  settlements,  are  admirable  bits  of  ^^«r^  workman- 
ship."—  Harper'' s  Magazine. 

"  It  is  a  rarely  powerful  and  realistic  picture  of  simple  life."  — Buffalo 
Express. 

"  The  author  has  given  us  a  charmingly  fresh  and  thoroughly  recogniz- 
able portraiture." —  JV.  Y.  Traveller. 

"  It  is  a  phenomenal  work."  —  Portland  Transcript. 

"  It  is  an  insult  to  literature  for  well-read  lawyers  to  treat  this  capital 
novel  as  if  it  were  a  mere  vulgar  libel."  —  Boston  Transcript. 

"That  book  has  been  the  means  of  shaking  literary  Boston  almost  to 
its  very  centre." — Quebec  Chronicle. 

"  It  is  intensely  amusing,  and  portrays  vividly  and  faithfully  the  daily  life 
of  a  peculiar  people."  —  Golden  Rule. 

*•  It  contains  more  and  better  character-writing  than  any  book  of  its 
kind  we  have  seen  for  many  a  day."  —  Chicago  Inter-Ocean. 

"There  are  some  delicious  bits  in  'Cape  Cod  Folks.'  The  literary  style 
is  excellent,  and  the  book  is  of  a  kind  to  please  almost  everybody."  — iV.  Y. 
Herald. 

"  No  man  reads  •  Cape  Cod  Folks '  with  more  delight  than  a  genuine  Cape 
Codder.  As  I  am  one  of  that  ilk,  I  am,  of  course,  one  of  her  admirers. 
The  bottom  fact  about  her  book  is  that  it  is  true,  and  paints  truth  down  to 
its  hidden  roots,  as  the  wont  of  genius  is.  This  is  the  general  verdict  of 
those  who  ought  to  know.  It  is  an  American  book,  racy  of  the  soil."  — 
Correspondence  to  Literary  World. 

"  The  touch  of  a  new  hand,  at  once  original,  intense,  and  dramatic,  with 
a  vein  of  humor  and  a  power  of  sarcasm  warrantmg  the  belief  that  in  this 
work  we  have  the  beginning  of  a  career  and  of  a  name."  —  Boston  Herald. 


THE  NEW  NOVEL  BT  THE  AUTHOR   OF 
''CAPE    COD   FOLKS." 


TOWHEAD;  THE  Story  of  a  Girl 


BY   SALLY   PRATT   McLEAN, 

AUTHOR  OF  "  CAPE  COD   FOLKS." 

J  Volume.     I2m0y  cloth.      Uniform  ivitJt  '■'■Cape  Cod  Folks.'* 
Price,  S/.JO. 

This  is  a  story  altogether  American  in  plot  and  character.  It  combines 
the  same  spirited  and  humorous  style  which  characterized  "Cape  Cod 
Folks,"  with  that  pathetic  touch  so  peculiarly  her  own,  which  hiis  made 
Miss  McLean  such  a  phenomenon   in  the  world  of  letters. 


CUPPLES,   UPHAM   &   CO.,  PUBLISHERS, 
BOSTON. 


By  the  Author  of  "THE  GREEN  HAND 


The     Deserted    Ship. 

A    STORY    OF    THE    ATLANTIC. 

Bv   GEORGE   CUPPLES. 

Author  of  "  The  Green  Hand,"  "  The  Sunken  Rock,"  etc.     Illustrated,     izmo. 
Cloth,     Brilliant  binding.    $i.oo.    Fourth  thousand.    New  and  improved  edition. 

CUPPLES,   UPHAM    &   CO., 
Publishers,  Boston. 


CDPPLES,  nPHAM  &  CO.'S  SnCCESSFDL  BOOKS  FOR  THE  YOUNS. 


Driven    to    Sea ; 

OR,     THE    ADVENTURES    OF    NORRIE    SETON. 
By  Mrs.  GEORGE  CUPPLES. 
Illuitratcd.     lamo.     $1.50.     Tenth  thousand.     Mailed  on  receipt  of  price,  hy 

CUPPLES,   UPHAM  &  CO  ,  Publishers,  Boston. 


Sl7  Ballades  in  Harvard  China. 

By  E.    S.    M. 

Illustrated  with  head  and  tail  pieces.  In  delicately  tinted 
turned-in  cover,  back  and  front  exquisitelj  designed  by  Lam- 
bert HoLLis,  k  la  Paris.  "Amateur  Series."  Orange  edges. 
I  vol.,  square  i2mo,  $i. 

Dainty  and  unique  in  style,  it  will  provide  bright  and  amusing  Summer  reading, 
appealing  to  the  taste  of  cultivated  people  of  society.  The  papers  are<^uite  uncon- 
ventional, and  are  treated  with  a  rare  sense  of  humor.  The  versification  has  the 
genuine  ring.  The  volume  will  undoubtedly  make  a  hit.  — Bostoti  Saturday  Even- 
Z7ig  Gazette. 

Bright  and  full  of  fun.  —  Boston  Globe. 

Graceful  in  fancy,  and  bright  in  wit  and  spirit.  The  author's  drollery  is  irresistible, 
and  we  should  think  young  ladies  would  enjoy  the  book  as  much  as  the  beings  of  tlie 
opposite  sex.  —  Quebec  Chrotticle. 

The  author  is  anonymous  —  as  usual,  now-a-days  —  but  he  is  known  as  one  of  the 
foremost  of  a  band  of  clever  young  writers.  —  Spring-yield  Repiiblicati. 

Writes  always  like  a  gentleman.  —  N".  Y,  Mail. 

The  volume  is  of  a  high  order.  —  Boston  Herald. 

Suggests  Hood  at  his  best.  —  Boston  Joicrnal. 

One  of  the  most  charming  of  Summer  books.  —  St.  Louis  Globe-Democrat. 

Written  in  the  approved  modern  Vers  de  Societie  style,  with  a  singular  mixture 
of  wit  and  deep  ferliiig.  Many  of  the  verses  would  not  be  disowned  by  Praed,  the 
master-genius  of  witty  verse,  or  by  Calverly,  who  wrote  "  Fly  Leaves,"  a  few 
years  back.  — Boston  Advertiser. 

Bret  Harte  created  quite  a  sensation  in  London  society  by  reading  these  verses  in 
manuscript.  —  N.  Y.  Pub.  Weekly. 

The  books  contain  some  of  the  lightest  and  brightest  bits  of  verse  it  has  lately  been 
our  good  fortune  to  read.  —  The  Critic. 


Whence,  What,  Where? 

A   VIEW  OF  THE    ORIGIN,  NATURE,  AND 
DESTINY  OF  MAN 

BY 
JAMES  R.  NICHOLS,  M.D.,  A.M. 


/  Volume.    i2mo.     ig8  Pages.     Cloi/i,  gilt.     Mailed^  postage  paid,  on 
receipt  of  price ^  $i.oo. 


CUPPLES,  UPHx\M  &  CO.,  Publisheks, 
BOSTON. 


EXTRACTS  FROM  NOTICES  BY  THE  PRESS. 

Fro77i  Forney's  Philadelphia  Press. 
**  Dr.  Nichols*  essays  will  be  found  stimulating  reading.  No  ono  can 
take  up  the  book  without  feeling  the  inclination  to  read  further  and  to 
ponder  on  the  all-important  subjects  wliich  they  present.  Though  it  is 
not  a  religious  book  in  the  technical  sense  of  the  word,  it  is  a  book  which 
calls  for  the  exercise  of  the  religious  nature,  and  it  is  a  book  which  in 
diiiusing  many  sensible  ideas  will  be  good." 

From  Boston  Commonwealth. 
"The great  value  of  the  little  book,  '"Whence,  What,  "Where ? '  by 
Dr.  James  R.  Nichols,  is  in  its  suggestiveness.  It  is  eminently  provoca- 
tive of  thought.  Its  value  is  not  to  be  tested  by  its  bulk.  It  is  full  of 
clear  thinking,  and  of  accurate  statement.  Dr.  Nichols  is  severely  sci- 
entific, and,  at  the  same  time,  devoutly  spiritual.  Its  philosophy  is 
largely  that  of  Swedenborg,  wituout  Swedenborg's  terrible  ditf  usiveiiess. 
We  have  in  it,  concisely  and  clearly  stated,  all  that  the  strictest  sci- 
entific research  warrants  us  in  believing  of  man's  origin,  nature,  and 
spiritual  destiny.  Science  is  shown  to  be  not  necessarily  opposed  to 
religion  and  to  spirituality." 

From  Boston  Christian  Register. 
"  The  took  is  written  in  a  clear  style,  and  the  author's  opinions  are 
readily  understood.    It  is  refreshing  to  have  such  a  Avork  from  a  scientific 
layman,  on  topics  which  too  many  treat  with  a  supercilious  disdain, 
Tiubecoming  both  themselves  and  the  subject." 

From  Boston  Congregationalist. 
"The  topics  discussed  are  handled  with  a  good  degree  of  candor,  and 
give  in  u  small  space  much  interesting  information  and  perhaps  some 
profitable  speculation." 

From  the  Lotrell  Mail. 
"  Its  truths  may  bo  received  as  a  new  revelation  from  wliioh  onn<!oi!itir>n 
and  happiness  may  bo  derived  by  those  who  have  been  irouMcd  with 
doubts  and  misgivings." 


Press  Notices. 


Fro7n  the  Providence  Journal. 

"  The  subjects  discussed  are  those  relating  to  the  genesis  of  man,  his 
spiritual  and  material  nature,  death,  and  the  life  hereafter.  These  great 
themes  are  treated  in  a  new  and  independent  manner,  and  in  a  spirit  of 
reverent  inquiry,  quite  opposed  to  that  generally  accredited  to  one  who, 
like  Dr.  Nichols,  is  devoted  to  the  exact  sciences.  The  important  results 
of  modern  science,  and  their  bearing  upon  these  vital  questioiis,  are  pre- 
sented in  a  fair  and  discriminating  manner.  '  Whence,  What,  Where  ? ' 
is  a  remarkable  and  impressive  work,  and  will  be  read  with  absorbing 
interest." 

From  (he  Boston  Christian  Leader. 

"  Dr.  Nichols  suddenly  finds  himself  famous  in  a  sphere  of  thought 
and  literary  endeavor  which  he  evidently  entered  with  so  little  self- 
assurance  that  he  wrote  and  printed  only  for  a  select  circle  of  valued 
friends.  We  have  read  the  work  Avith  constant  interest  — at  tunes  Avith 
startling  surprise.  As  a  thoughtful,  clear,  and  solemn  protest  against 
the  agnosticism  and  materialism  of  the  day  it  has  a  value  quite  unique." 

From  New  Orleans  Times. 
"  One  of  the  most  thoughtful,  practical,  and  successful  books  of 
the  year,  is  Dr.  Nichols'  *  Whence,  What,  Where  ? '    He  is  Avidely  known 
as  an  able  scientific  writer  and  chemist,  as  well  as  a  successful  business 
man,  holding  important  positions  of  public  trust." 

From  Minneapolis  Call. 
"  It  is  devout,  it  is  calm  and  judicial  in  tone,  and  there  is  an  entire 
absence  of  the  controversial  tone.    The  subjects  are  treated  with  great 
candor  and  ability,  and  the  book  is  destitute  of  all  pretence  and  cant." 

From  Portland  Transcript. 
"  The  book  is  written  Avith  great  ability,  and  in  a  reverent  spirit,  and 
in  this  age  of  doubt  and  inquiry  Avill  afford  comfort  to  many  minds." 

From  Boston  Transcript 
'*  Most  heartfully  and  gratefully  do  Ave  commend  this  modest,  but 
vigorous  and  cheering  volume  to  a  large  circle  of  readers,  confident  that 
it  will  greatly  instruct,  inspire,  and  aid  them." 

From  Chicago  Times. 

"  The  argument,  drawn  in  large  measure  from  the  knoAvn  quality  of 
nearly  everything  Avith  Avhicli  Ave  are  acquainted,  is  exceedingly  ingenious 
and  interesting.  The  whole  book,  indeed,  is  curiously  ingenious,  and  yet 
its  ingenuity  is  of  tbat  peculiar  sort  Avhich  makes  its  conclusions  appear 
so  simple  that  one  wonders  they  Avere  not  long  ago  reached  and  formu- 
lated. It  is  a  ncAV  thing  to  find  a  man  so  saturated  with  science  speaking 
so  reverently  of  religion, —  though  it  must  be  understood  that  he  distinctly 
asserts  that  theology  is  not  religion  nor  any  part  of  it,  —  and  the  fact  that 
so  clear  and  incisive  a  thinker  can  strip  Christianity  of  the  gewgaAVS  and 
tatters  of  fable  and  reverently  accept  the  spirit  that  is  left  leads  one  to 
Avonder  if  it  can  be  possible  that  this  is  the  beginning  of  that  ultimate 
coherent  harmony  between  religion  and  science  Avhich  must  come  linally, 
if  both  have,  as  Dr.  Nichols  plainly  thinks,  a  basis  in  truth.  In  any 
event  the  book  is  one  of  the  most  notable  of  the  day,  richly  worth 
reading." 

From  Boston  Home  Journal. 

"Dr.  Nichols  is  well  known  as  an  eminent  scientific  scholar  and 
writer.  He  is  a  profound  thinker  and  a  clear,  terse  writer,  whose  sim- 
I^licity  of  expression  is  as  marked  as  is  the  beauty  and  force  of  his  lan- 
guage. Tlie  book  presents  a  model  in  style  Avhich  may  be  profitably 
studied  by  the  greater  portion  of  clergymen  of  all  denominations.  It  is 
devout  in  "tone,  unassuming,  and  perfectly  catholic  in  spirit,  and  free  from 
the  dogmatism  that  so  universally  characterizes  the  discussion  of  the 
subjects  here  treated  by  sectarian  leaders." 


NICHOLS' 

Popular  Science  News 

AND 

BOSTON  JOURNAL  OF  CHEMISTRY. 


S  IHontfjIg  Journal  ai  popular  ^ctencf. 


CONDUCTED  BY 

Dr.  JAS.  R.  NICHOLS  and  WM.  J.  ROLFE,  A.M. 

Established  in  t86j.      Now  in  its  Seventeenth  year. 
One  Dollar  per  Annum  in  advance. 


The  name  Popular  Science  News  has  been  associated  with  the 
Boston  Journal  of  Chemistry,  a  paper  long  and  favorably  known  in  every 
State  of  the  Union.  The  design  of  this  most  successful  and  useful  journal 
has  been  to  furnish  in  compact  form,  and  at  a  lowpiice,  the  new  facts  in 
science,  mechanics,  invention,  art,  agriculture,  and  medicine,  which  it  is  so 
important  should  be  widely  disseminated  among  all  reading  people. 

Its  success  is  due  to  the  fact  that  it  presents  in  plain  language,  which 
all  can  understand,  scientific  discoveries  and  principles  which  are  useful 
to  every  one,  no  matter  what  may  be  their  vocation  or  pursuit  in  life. 
It  is  an  indispensable 

FAMILY  JOUllNAL, 

which  should  be  introduced  to  every  fireside  in  the  country. 

Dr  Nichols  has  edited  this  journal  for  a  period  of  more  than  a  sixth 
of  a  century,  and  every  number  contains  many  pages  of  his  instructive 
and  pleasant  contributions. 


Send  One  Dollar  to  Populah  Sctf.xck  Nkws  Co.,  1C.">  High  Street, 
Boston.  You  will  receive  it  promptly,  and  not  regret  that  you  became 
its  patron. 


THE  STORY  OF  IDA. 

By   FRANCESCA. 

WITH   A  FINE  PORTRAIT   FftONTISPIECE,   AND   AN   INTRODUCTION 

BY  JOHN   RUSKIN,   D.C.L. 


I  vol.  i6mo.    Gray  cloth  and  g^ilt.    Price,  75  cts. 


'TpHIS  reprint  of  a  little  book  which  has  been  very  popular  in  England  is  meet- 
ing with  a  warm  welcome  throughout  the  country.  Its  popularity  is  due 
mainly  to  the  beauty  of  the  story,  although  attention  was  called  to  it,  in  the 
first  place,  by  Mr.  Ruskin  in  his  lectures  at  Oxford,  and  in  the  preface  to  the 
book.  The  pseudonym,  "  Francesca,"  is  only  a  slight  change  of  the  Christian 
name  of  Miss  Frances  Alexander,  a  lady  artist  of  Boston,  now  living  in  Florence. 
The  great  merit  of  her  paintings  won  her  the  friendship  of  Mr.  Ruskin,  at  whose 
urgent  request  "The  Story  of  Ida"  — written  originally  as  a  private  memorial  — 
was  published.     In  his  preface  Mr.  Ruskin  says :  — 

"  Let  it  be  noted  ^with  thankful  reverence  that  this  is  the  story  of  a  Catholic 
girl,  written  by  a  Protestant  one,  yet  the  tw^o  of  them  so  united  in  the  truth  of 
Christian  faith,  and  in  the  joy  of  its  love,  that  they  are  absolutely  unconscious 
of  any  difference  in  the  forms  or  letter  of  their  religion." 


" '  The  Story  of  Ida '  is  a  perfect  gem  of  simfle^  unadorned  narrative,  and 
the  volume  is  a  dainty  little  specimen  of  the  bookmaker's  art.'**  —  Buffalo 
Express. 

"  The  story  is  very  toitchingP  —  Boston  Advertiser. 

"//  is  tender,  loving,  and  deeply  religiousP  —  Worcester  Spy. 

"  This  exquisite  little  story,  with  its  preface  by  fohn  Ruskin,  depends  for  its 
interest  upon  a  certain  religious  simplicity  and  refinement  of  thought  and 
manners,  which  will  coytimend  it  to  those  who  like  the  works  of  Frances 
Havergal  and  Hesba  Stretton.**  —  Boston  Courier. 

"  The  story  is  beautiful  and  touching  in  its  simplicity,  purity,  and  pathos,  and 
is  absolutely  true  in  every  particular**  —  Troy  Times. 


For  sale  by  all  booksellers,  or  mailed,  postage  paid,  on  receipt  of  the  price, 
by  the  publishers, 

CUPPLES,    UPHAM    AND    COMPANY, 

283  Washington  Street,  Bostoa. 


^K  INITIAL  FINE  OF  2/^f  fS 

W.UU  BE  A«^^n^°   Xro^E    ?HE  PENM-TY 
THIS   BOOK  ON  THE  D''"  ^^  THE  FOURTH 

^V^rNO^TO^T^OO    ON—    — »    ''^^ 
OVERDUE. 

MOV  11 194^^^1_j7ilsa:6M! L. 


\^\'^ 


a\ 


,*>- 


LiJ>!' 


01 


'-■J -..A 


MIEM 


LB2r-^00».7.'40(693( 


YB  33790 


52570,9 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


-^^^■ifX-.-^ 


^^c 


*ji  *  ^ 


't\ 


\hp. 


M 


tM 


